Garden Educator - 2023/2024 School Year

Purpose: One Cool Earth believes that everyone deserves a place to grow. Our Earth Genius program powers healthy, happy, smart youth at SLO County elementary schools by creating awesome school gardens. We are focused on creating real impacts in childhood health, academics and wellbeing using school gardens. Our program’s topics focus on the themes of Food Forests, Zero Waste and Water Wise. We depend on a Garden Educator as the on-the-ground ambassadors for school gardens, caring for and improving the gardens, providing nutrition and science lessons for students, and supporting teachers in using the gardens as outdoor learning labs.

Location(s): San Luis Obispo County - Nipomo Elementary School, Creston Elementary School, Carrisa Plains Elementary School
Start Date: Immediate start, ends June 2024
Hours/Duration: Part-time, dependent on your availability. Includes weekly two hour all-team meetings, which will fluctuate between virtual and in-person.
Preferred Qualifications

• Experience leading groups of children, preferably in an outdoor environment.
• Familiarity and confidence working in a garden, or strong motivation to learn in a hands-on environment; 
• Formal education or significant experience in nutrition, environmental studies, childhood development/psychology, education, agriculture or equivalent is a plus.
• Excellent rapport with children, with at least one year experience in educational settings (summer camps, Sprout Up!, etc.);
• Demonstrated communications and interpersonal skills;
• Ability to work independently and be self-directed
• Able to work with people of diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds;
• Creative, flexible and hard working; able to manage your commitments responsibly;
• Enjoy learning new things and challenging yourself;
• A good sense of humor, wonder, and curiosity;

Desired Skills 

• Bilingual – English & Spanish (preferred but not required)
• Proficiency with Google Docs and Google Calendar

Primary Responsibilities
The Garden Educator is self-directed and a self-starter who works to:

• Improve student science understanding by providing engaging, standards-based projects, experiments, and lessons based on ecology, earth, and life sciences, especially on the subjects of watersheds, food forests, and zero waste;
• Increase student knowledge of food cycle, interest in growing fresh fruits and vegetables, and willingness to try new fruits and vegetables;
• Teach engaging garden lessons (30 - 60 min.) to 25 students at a time (3 to 6 classes per day);
• Work effectively with teachers to coordinate curriculum and classroom instruction in the garden;
• Work effectively with community members, volunteers and others to coordinate the ongoing administration of the school gardens;
• Maintain accurate and timely garden records and reports;
• Provide basic maintenance for gardens: planting, weeding, pruning, composting, minor irrigation adjustments and repairs;
• Communicate effectively with the Leadership staff to meet performance expectations
• Attend all team meetings and trainings​
  
  

Physical Demands: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. The ability to perform normal garden tasks, including digging, carrying, stooping, weeding, reaching, walking on varied terrain, and lifting and carrying materials and potted plants weighing up to 50 lbs.
Certificates, Licenses, Registrations:  The applicant must possess a valid driver’s license, a reliable vehicle with proof of insurance, and be able to pass a background check and TB test to work at schools.
Compensation & Benefits: Be part of a growing, mission-driven team; Change children’s lives for the better; Flexible scheduling; Optional 401(k); $17 - $18 hour DOE. Extensive professional development/ training schedule. 
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To Apply: Please send your resume and a cover letter to Natalie Perez at nataliep@onecoolearth.org.