School Garden Program Director

At Growing Together, our mission is to improve the health of our communities by creating & maintaining school gardens as hubs for fresh food access, youth education, and mutual aid.

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Our work and therefore our team are both intersectional, including educators, landscapers, naturalists, farmers, business operators, & school parents. As a team we have an abundance of specialized expertise in hands-on outdoor education, garden & orchard stewardship, as well as large scale, community-centered mutual aid.

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Leading school based garden programs is one of the specialized services we offer to schools and districts; currently, Growing Together is a network of ten program directors, each based at 1-2 campuses in Oakland (OUSD), Richmond/San Pablo (WCCUSD), or San Lorenzo (SLZUSD).

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How you’ll contribute: 

 

As a School Garden Program Director, you’ll be responsible for leading the garden education program at your school. The scope of your work will also include maintaining a mid-sized school garden and hosting elective classes, as well as other regular garden activities for the school community. Specific responsibilities include:   

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• Planning and leading a variety of hands-on, garden based lessons that are subject-aligned, for diverse classes and student groups (teaching credential is often advantageous but not required) 

• Maintaining a mid-sized school garden in a time-efficient manner, especially by integrating basic stewardship tasks with in-class activities, after-school enrichment, school/parent volunteer days or workdays, etc

• Communicating and coordinating effectively with a school’s array of stakeholders - teachers, admin, custodians

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What you’ll need to succeed: 
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• 1 year experience preparing and leading outdoor, hands-on garden activities 

• Experience working with students in a school setting, using a subject-aligned curriculum

• 1 year experience with responsibility for maintaining a school or community garden

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The nitty gritty:
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• This is a 50% to 100% FTE role which we are hoping to fill as soon as possible. Please note that if you are interested in this role and would like to work more hours, please check out our other open listings. Many of our roles are modular and can be combined, separated, or mixed & matched to accommodate different scheduling or lifestyle needs. 

• Compensation for this role is $40 per hour, benefits negotiable

• Our organization works with schools across San Lorenzo, Oakland, and West Contra Costa Unified School Districts. This role would require traveling to a number of different schools across the East Bay. 

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Life at Growing Together:
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• We’re a team of do-ers. Almost every member of our team  is a program director responsible for the planning, management, and execution of their own program. This means that our team is very flat, and that every person is accountable for delivering a piece of our organization’s work. 

• We don’t believe that one size fits all. We place a lot of agency and trust in each person to steward our programs in ways that are relevant to & informed by the different schools, communities, and needs of their context. 

• Our work is integrated within school communities. Most of our time and attention is spent working with people outside of our organization. Whether that be students, teachers,  school administrators, parents, or farmers, a majority of our day to day time is spent building relationships with the communities that we are cultivating & participating in.

• We’re a network of community members, connected by values & mission. Given the varying schedules of our programs, our team relies on monthly in-person team meetings, as well as informal weekly check-ins with other team members to stay in sync and collaborate on cross team projects.

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If you think you'd be a good fit for our team and this role, please send us an email at hello@growingtogetherprojects.org with your contact info, your CV/resume, and the role that you would like to interview for.