• Practice and Promote Food Justice and Local Food Security
• Build Strong Community between our three collaborating organizations (Congregation B'nai Israel, Lander Grinspoon Academy, and the Northampton Survival Center) and between the Northampton Jewish community and the broader local community
• Provide Outdoor Education Experiences that inspire a love of the natural world, promote a sense of personal responsibility to care for Creation and a love of learning.

Farm Educator and Program Coordinator (JOFEE Fellow)

Application Deadline:
Feb. 21st.   Applications will be reviewed as they are received.

Start Dates
JOFEE training: March 5-19 at Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center
Abundance Farm Placement: March 20th  (start date can be somewhat flexible)
 

The Farm Educator and Program Coordinator (FE) will be responsible for manifesting the mission of Abundance Farm through a variety of educational and administrative roles.   These include serving as an educator for youth, families and teens. The FE will also provide administrative support for educational programs and community events such as our annual Sukkot Harvest Festival.  The FE will also provide some support to our Farm Manager through general farm assistance.
 

The FE will also serve as a JOFEE (Jewish, Outdoor, Food and Environmental Education) Fellow and participate in the fourth, national JOFEE Fellowship cohort.  This is a national, year-long initiative of professional development, mentorship and training, specifically for Jewish environmental educators working at organizations around the country.
 

Farm Education

Serve as educator in farm-based programs throughout the year.  Serve as both lead and support staff in facilitating farm-based curriculum for youth ages 3-18 in school, after-school, and summer settings.  The FE will work closely with the teachers at our three campus schools (pre-school, religious school and Jewish elementary school) to implement already established curricula, as well as support the Director of Outdoor Education in the development of new curricula to meet emerging needs.

Events Coordination and Management

Provide strong administrative and logistical leadership in the development and implementation of farm-based community programs including our Spring Community Work Day, our Sukkot Harvest Festival as well as a number of other school and community programs over the course of the year.  Provide leadership in the development and launch of new public programs. Administrative work includes program development, cultivating community partnerships, hiring vendors and outside specialists,  volunteer recruitment and coordination, marketing support and program evaluation. In this role, the professional will often serve as the public face of Abundance Farm.

Shefa Teen Internship and Apprenticeship

Provide educational and logistical support to the Farm Manager and other Shefa support staff in implementing our 8-week, summer teen internship/apprenticeship as well as our fall and spring internships.

Farm Production

Provide support to the Farm Manager in management of our 1-acre vegetable and fruit production as well as the cultivation of our new 1-acre site.

Required Training and Professional Development

The FE will be required to attend three in-person seminars organized by Hazon.  These include:

1. March 5 – 19, 2019  JOFEE Fellowship orientation and training intensive Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center – Falls Village, CT

2. Aug 27 – Sept 2, 2019 JOFEE Network Gathering at Urban Adamah – Berkeley, CA and Walker Creek Ranch – Petaluma, CA

3. January 15-19, 2020: Closing Siyum at Pearlstone Center – Reisterstown, MD

Hours

This is a full-time, 40-hour per week position that often necessitates working some evenings, Sundays and Jewish holidays (all included in the 40-hour work week).

Start Date

This position begins no later than March 5th, with the March 5-19 training intensive.  It is desired for the FE to begin on site at Abundance Farm on March 20th. This date is somewhat flexible.

Qualifications

Required

• Personal alignment with the mission of Abundance Farm and its core program areas of food justice, farm-based education and community building.

• Experience leading and creating engaging educational programming for a wide variety of ages ranging from 3-18.

• Experience working in the field of experiential Jewish and/or garden education.

• Strong track record of successful facilitation, teaching, and administration.

• Strong gardening knowledge.

• Experience, familiarity, and/or passion with urban agriculture and local food systems.

• Comfort leading high energy activities for groups of 20+ children.

• Genuine passion and love for working outside with children and families.

• Emotional maturity

• Excellent communication skills.

• Experience and confidence speaking in front of groups of children and adults

• Positive, team player and collaborator.

• Highly organized.

• Ability to work independently and also to work closely with direct supervision when needed

DESIRED

• Strong Jewish education and comfort teaching farm-based curricula through the lens of Jewish tradition.

• Working knowledge of the Hebrew language.

• Experience teaching through multiple modalities (e.g. movement, theatre, music, etc.)

• Experience working and teaching in multicultural settings

• Interest in and history of engagement in issues of food justice

• A degree or other significant training in education; community-building skills and experience working with diverse communities; Non-Violent Communication training; anti oppression training; anti-racism training.

Salary and Benefits

Salary is $30,000 plus benefits. All training days provided by the JOFEE Fellowship are considered work days, and all expenses connected to JOFEE trainings are covered by Abundance Farm and Hazon.