Garden Educator, Hudson Valley Seed – New York

Organization: Hudson Valley Seed

Position Title: Garden Educator

Location: Newburgh City School District, New York

Dates and compensation: 20 hours per week, part time, with the potential for full time work beginning September, 2015.; Wage:   Salary consistent with the staffing of a non-profit organization and commensurate with experience, skills and preferred qualifications.

Application Deadline: February 27, 2015

Description: Hudson Valley Seed’s Garden Educator will implement and help develop Hudson Valley Seed’s curriculum-integrated garden program. The Garden Educator will be working in the Newburgh City School District bringing students out to school gardens to teach academics and nutrition through experiential garden learning. The Garden educator will administer lessons both indoors and outdoors, teaching students Hudson Valley Seed-curricula year round. The Garden Educator will work closely with participating school teachers, parents and community members, and will work to build the foundation of the organization as it grows to work with more school districts and students. The garden educator will work closely with the rest of the Hudson Valley Seed team as they collectively educate 1,500 students each week across Putnam, Dutchess and Orange Counties.

Responsibilities:

• Teach weekly garden programs to approximately 15 classes each week in the Newburgh City School District, teaching in both an indoor and outdoor setting.
• Assist with garden lesson planning including working with other staff to develop materials, communication with schools, and documentation of programs.
• Management and care of existing education program materials, supplies and equipment as well as the development of new ones as needed.
• Implement Hudson Valley Seed weekly garden programs including maintaining necessary annual paperwork, providing resources for teachers, modeling place-based and inquiry learning through teaching, assisting schools with correlating curriculum to NY Frameworks, keeping records of time spent on programs and writing an annual report.
• Participate in regular Hudson Valley Seed staff meetings.
• Assist in writing program descriptions for newsletters and program guides.
• Outreach into the Newburgh community, including acting as liaison to PTAs and partnering community organizations.
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree or commensurate experience – preferred work experience in environmental education, education or related field.
• Experience in environmental educational program planning, development and implementation.
• Experience working with people of all ages and backgrounds in an outdoor environmental education setting, with an emphasis on outdoor classroom management.
• Strong, demonstrable background in and passion for the natural world & gardening.
• Creative and enthusiastic communication/presentation skills.
• Ability to work as part of a team as well as independently.
• Familiarity with Microsoft Office software.
• Must pass a criminal background check.

How to Apply: To apply please send cover letter, resume, and 2 references by February 27th via e-mail to: Ava Bynum, Executive Director at [email protected].