Company description

Rio School District serves approximately 5,100 students across five elementary, two TK-8, and two middle schools. The Child Nutrition Services Department has been developing and building the Farm to School program for over ten years to include gardens at each school, a 10-acre organic farm, local fruit and vegetable procurement for school meals, scratch-cooked meals, farm-fresh salad bars, and a garden and nutrition education program.

Click here to view the Child Nutrition Services website.

Click here to learn more about Rio’s Farm to School Program.

The Camino del Sol Community Garden was established in 2011 by Ventura County Public Health, working with the City of Oxnard and Oxnard City Corps to establish the garden on 1.5 acres of land owned by the City. Currently, the 1.5-acre community garden offers 71 families the ability to supplement their diets with fresh produce that they cultivate. With an upcoming expansion currently underway, the project will serve a total of 95 community gardeners and their families. The garden will also have a community orchard of 34 fruit trees planted at the site in early 2026. The project is designed to positively impact access to fresh, healthy food in the community. The project also offers residents a place to participate in active and productive outdoor recreation.

Job description

Job Type: Independent Contractor

Click here for full job description

Overview

The School & Community Garden Educator will support the expansion of a robust Farm to School education program by assisting in school garden renovations, implementing school garden and farm-based education, teaching whole food cooking and nutrition lessons and facilitating urban agricultural education at Camino del Sol Community Garden for Rio’s K-8th grade students. The School & Community Garden Educator will work collaboratively with the City of Oxnard, Camino del Sol Community Garden volunteers, Child Nutrition Services, the Farm to School educator team, school site staff, teachers, students, food service staff, administrators, community organizations and parents. The goal is to meet the student education component of the City of Oxnard’s United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production Grant Award outlined below and within Rio’s Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the City of Oxnard.

Contract Terms

17 month contract from January 2026-May 2027 with the possibility for extension and renewal. $30 per hour. Approximately 30 hours per week and not to exceed 128 hours per month.

Scope of Work

The School & Community Garden Educator will be responsible for the following scope of work:

School & Community Garden Urban Agricultural Education

Coordinate and facilitate field trips for students to learn from community garden experts and participate in urban agricultural experiential education located at the Camino del Sol Community Garden
Facilitate and coordinate community garden and school district farm field trips and connect these learning experiences to the school cafeteria, gardens, and classrooms
Teach school and community garden, nutrition, whole food cooking and Harvest of the Month produce tasting lessons that are integrated with content standards for Kindergarten-8th grade students
Implement garden and nutrition education focused lesson plans and activities that expose and familiarize students with techniques and practices for organically growing their own food and Farm to School produce specialty crop menu offerings in school cafeterias.
Provide technical assistance and training for teachers about how to utilize the school garden as an outdoor classroom and integrate standards-aligned garden and nutrition education in their classrooms
Track all education activities and write grant reports.

School Garden Renovation and Management

Support the Farm to School team to design, renovate, plant and maintain fruit and vegetable gardens
Maintain school gardens by coordinating assistance from students, teachers, staff, parents and community garden volunteers, including planting, weeding, watering, harvesting, etc.
Care for all garden-related infrastructure and equipment, including garden beds,
pathways, irrigation, and gardening tools

Coordinate planting and harvesting of produce based on school cafeteria and educational needs
Develop planting and harvest calendars to coordinate garden harvest supply and cafeteria procurement needs
Maintain proper records for planting, harvesting and delivery of produce to cafeterias
Work with students, staff and cafeteria managers on safe food handling of fruits and vegetables harvested from the garden for use in education and school meals
Track activities and write grant reports

Community Engagement

Plan and facilitate lectures, demonstrations, workshops and events that promote gardens, whole food cooking, nutrition and farm to school for students, teachers, parents, community volunteers and cafeteria staff
Collaborate with community gardeners, interns and school sites to plan and implement community events such as Family Cooking Nights, Dia de Los Muertos celebrations, and other garden-related events that promote urban agriculture and Farm to School
Collaborate with schools, community garden, interns and local organizations to plan and facilitate Garden Work Parties to support on-going garden care and maintenance

The Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate will have any combination equivalent to provide sufficient experience, training and/or education to perform the scope of work and demonstrate the knowledge and abilities listed above. Typically, this would be gained through: bachelor’s degree in agriculture, public health, nutrition, environmental science or related field and/or completion of a garden or agricultural internship or apprenticeship program; work experience in farm to school programs; experience managing gardens and implementing nutrition and garden-based education for school-age students. Bilingualism in Spanish & English is preferred.

Compensation

this position is: hourly, $20/hr +

Application instructions

Deadline

December 03, 2025