Program Coordinators are responsible for the oversight of a location for the duration of a season. See details below:
Description of Responsibilities
This position is for our St. John’s location in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.
- Garden Kitchen Lab is seeking high-energy and passionate educators with experience working with children ages 8-13.
- You will be implementing a provided curriculum that varies based on the season, including the scheduling and tracking of the students’ attendance.
- Work in conjunction with NYC Parks’ Recreation staff to run the program’s internal logistics in the garden, kitchen, and media lab on time.
- Handle administrative tasks to support the report, outreach, and promotion of the program.
- Remain fully engaged and informed about the site and its program.
- Basic understanding of technology required including Google Docs, Google Photos, digital photography, video editing, and general computer use.
- Good English writing skills required
Compensation: $30/hr, all program materials are provided.
When applying, please choose one or more of the following seasonal timeframes (click the links for detailed duties per season):
- SPRING: May 26 – June 20 (4 weeks, two 3-hour class per week)
- SUMMER: July 7 – August 22 (6 weeks, two 3-hour classes per week)
- Fall 1: Sept. 28 – Nov. 7 (6 weeks, one 3-hour class per week)
- Fall 2: Nov. 16 – Dec. 19 (5 weeks, one 3-hour class per week)
Continue reading for a detail of duties by seasonal posting
Season-Specific Duties Detailed
When applying for this position, please specify one of the seasonal postings listed below. We prefer to have one educator per cycle per location so there is consistency for the students taking the class.
JUMP TO:
Spring
Summer
Fall 1
Fall 2
SPRING: May 26 – June 20
4 weeks, two 3-hour classes per week
- Garden Kitchen Lab program begins. Students explore our parks through foraging, learn about the medicinal properties of native plants and prepare a plant-based medicinal oil. We start harvesting by the end of May.
- Week of 6/1, place the first Amazon order for tea or lemonade making lesson.
- Week of 6/8, place the second Amazon order for the quinoa salad lesson and nonperishable ingredients for the summer.
- Water the garden twice per day every day.
SUMMER: July 7 – August 22
7 weeks, two 3-hour classes per week
- Garden Kitchen Lab program begins; this is harvest season, so HAVE FUN!!! Celebrate the medicinal and healing properties of the garden; celebrate deliciousness!!! 🙂
- Week of 7/13, place the first Amazon order for summer-lesson #2.
- Week of 7/20: Please note, these dates may vary depending on the days of the week you offer your class: – place an Amazon order for summer-lesson #3, 4 and 5.
- Run the second soil-test, this test will help you understand what the soil is in the peak of the growing season.
- FedEx soil-test samples and Rutgers University soil-test forms to the lab; use FedEx vendor’s account.
- Monitor gardener-volunteers help maintain the garden; this is the peak of the summer;
- Use this time to tie the tomato, cucumber vines to the garden-stakes, get the garden native plants cut, and prune the tomato vines so that they yield more and discard any dead leaves. Prune the cucumber and squash plants. – Water the garden twice per day every day.
- From week 7/20 to 8/28, this is the peak of the summer and the right time to harvest your seeds and herbs to save and dry for the fall and winter season, when the plants are at its best.
- Week of 8/28, place Amazon order for summer-lesson #6 and 7.
Fall 1: Sept. 28 – Nov. 7
6 weeks, one 3-hour class per week
- Garden Kitchen Lab program begins, highlights our garden resources, nothing goes to waste!
- We harvest and save our seeds, dry herbs for the fall and wintertime, make a takeaway mint-sugar scrub and begin using the PH chemistry-kits to amend the soil before closing for the season.
- Monitor gardener-volunteers help maintain the garden; use this time to discard any dead leaves of the tomato, cucumber, and squash plants.
- Water the garden once per day every day.
- In October, send Katie’s Krops grant application for 2021.
- Week of 11/2, we close the garden:
- Pull out any garden-debris.
- Cut a large piece of garden-fabric and lay it on the ground.
- Use a shovel to dig and dump on the garden-fabric.
- Cut another garden-fabric the size of the raised bed.
- Dump the soil you took out first, on top of the fabric-layer.
- Even out the soil with a rake.
- Have your volunteer varnish the raised beds with our wood treatment.
Fall 2: Nov. 16 – Dec. 19
5 weeks, one 3-hour class per week
- Garden Kitchen Lab program begins. The program focuses on molecular gastronomy and the change of food fermenting, mixing, reducing, or browning; food-and-science-media explored through photo cameras and digital microscopes.
GARDEN KITCHEN LAB 