Garden Educator

About the role:

Garden educators deliver high-quality and state standards aligned outdoor garden education and nutrition lessons to grades TK – 5th at public schools in the Mt. Diablo Unified School District. Garden classes are taught 2 to 4 days per week during the school day in Fall, Winter and Spring seasonal cycles. During the Winter classes, educators teach cooking and CA state health standards aligned nutrition lessons. Educators maintain their school site teaching gardens year round. This role reports to the Head of Programs.

About us:

Growing Healthy Kids is a nonprofit that provides unique outdoor educational learning opportunities to over 12,000 students at 19 schools throughout the Mt. Diablo Unified School District in Bay Point, Clayton, Concord, Pleasant Hill and Walnut Creek. Our mission is to integrate everyday outdoor education into grade-school academics to promote engagement in learning, inspire environmental stewardship, and cultivate lifelong physical and mental wellness. We are committed to equity and inclusion so that all cultures and identities are respected and celebrated.

Qualifications:

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree, Early Childhood Education Certificate, or experience working with children in an educational setting such as afterschool programs.
• Ability to work collaboratively with multiple groups including other garden educators, Growing Healthy Kids Leadership, and MDUSD site administration, teachers, and staff.
• Must be able to pass MDUSD background check and TB screening.
• Comfort teaching outdoors and managing an outdoor classroom.
• This role may involve lifting up to 25 pounds, with accommodations available upon discussion to ensure accessibility.
• Access to a personal computer and ability to use Google Workspace tools.

Preferred Qualifications:

• TK-5th classroom teaching experience.
• Experience with gardening or farming, particularly in an educational setting.
• Bilingual Spanish, Dari, Pashto, Farsi speaking candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
• Experience working with diverse populations and stakeholders.
• Knowledge of age-appropriate classroom management techniques.

You might succeed in this role if…

• You’re interested in learning more about gardening and are excited about plants and food systems
• You love being outdoors and connecting yourself and others to the natural world
• You’re passionate about inventing creative, tasty, and easy recipes
• You have education experience outside of a traditional classroom including (but not limited to) after school programming, camp settings, educational theater, and more
• You are already a passionate member of an MDUSD school community and want to bring a new sense of pride, belonging, and exploration to your school

Studies have shown that some candidates with identities most impacted by social and economic inequities are less likely to apply for jobs unless they believe they meet every one of the qualifications as described in the job description. If this role speaks to you, we encourage you to apply, even if you don’t believe you tick all the boxes.

Job Responsibilities:

Garden Education

• Teaching 16 or more weeks of provided Next Generation Science lessons in the garden to TK-5 students.
• Teaching 8 or more weeks of CA Health Standards through provided cooking and nutrition lessons to TK-5 students in the winter season.
• Collaborating with school site classroom teachers to align garden lessons with overall grade level curriculum goals.
• Preparing for weekly lessons using GHK lesson planning tool and curriculum organizer and adapting existing lessons to meet school site cultural and/or language needs.
• Managing and tracking individual site budget for lesson and maintenance materials.
• Planning and procuring materials needed for garden and nutrition lessons.
• Preparing ingredients for use in cooking lessons at home or on-site maintaining food safety standards.
• Modeling sustainability practices in the garden and on school campus and demonstrating sustainability practices during lessons such as proper waste sorting and composting.
• Assisting with program evaluation including collecting student data and keeping accurate instructional records to assist with program evaluation effort
• Communicating and collaborating with school site administration, teachers, food and nutrition services staff, custodians, and afterschool program staff to ensure effective and high quality program delivery.
• Representing GHK at school site events such as back to school night, PTO events, and open house.
• Attending weekly garden educator cohort meetings for curriculum collaboration and skills sharing, as well as all-staff meetings, and professional development trainings.

Garden Maintenance

• Planting and improving school site educational gardens in coordination with the school site administration and school community.
• Maintaining school gardens with regular weeding, pest control, watering, and irrigation fixes as needed.
• Identifying maintenance and infrastructure site needs that require organizational or district support, submitting and tracking maintenance tickets, and acting as site lead for project coordination.
• Organizing and leading two schoolwide seasonal garden workdays with the school community.

Additional Compensation, Scheduling, and Location Details:

This is a part-time, hourly, non-exempt position compensated at $35/hour with seasonal fluctuations in hours. Garden educators typically teach 2 – 4 days per week for 24 – 36 weeks during the MDUSD school year, depending on school site placement. Lessons are seasonal with blocks in the fall, winter, and spring. Garden maintenance continues year-round.

Garden educators will be assigned to a school site located within the Mt. Diablo Unified School District.

Garden educators have the option to enroll in an employee-contribution 401(k) plan, and elective telemedicine, mental health and other supplemental insurance benefits.

How to Apply:

To apply, please send a resume and answer application questions using https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/0c00f963eab24570af9ced2c8a108079

Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis, with first reviews on the week of June 16.