Garden Program Teaching Fellow

Epiphany is an independent school dedicated to providing excellent, tuition-free education to young people of all faiths from economically disadvantaged families in Boston. Our comprehensive garden program includes a 1000-square-foot tropical greenhouse, 26 raised beds, a pollinator garden, and a rain garden. We are looking for recent college graduates who feel a commitment to the city, education, children, and urban gardening and are excited about the idea of working for a full-service school with an extended day. The Garden Teaching Fellow is a year-round position whose primary responsibility is to collaborate with the Garden Program Director to cultivate the garden program, involving all children, caregivers, and staff at our school in growing food, cooking, working towards food justice, and coming together as a community. The Garden Teaching Fellow will also help run after-school programming and provide opportunities for student teaching. Sample Responsibilities: Assist with planning, maintenance, and harvesting in gardens and greenhouses throughout the year. Co-plan and teach biweekly cooking and gardening club for middle school students. Co-teach garden-based core curriculum classes for middle school students and Early Learning Center classes. Co-facilitate after-school family and community engagement events, such as Adult Green Club and Family Garden Gatherings.Supervise duties during the school day, afternoon, and evening portion of our program (such as lunch duty)Support in Middle School core curriculum classrooms. Preferred Experience:Experience in outdoor, garden, and environmental education work is preferred but not required. Experience with youth work, such as in an outdoor, school, or after-school setting. Experience growing plants in farming, landscaping, or gardening settings.Knowledge of and passion for food justice, food sovereignty, climate justice, and rematriation work. CompensationFree housing and housing expenses in Epiphany units within walking distance to work.An AmeriCorps living allowance of $18,000, distributed in 24 bi-weekly increments of $750 for the duration of the Member's term of service, fulfilling AmeriCorps requirements; the living allowance is taxable. Health insurance eligibility through AmeriCorps.Upon completing the Member's full-time term of service, the National Service Trust will award the member $7,000 to be applied to past or future educational endeavors.Compensation will increase for the 2025-26 school year.Hiring ProcessReview our Garden Program Core Values and the school website.

Receive an invitation to schedule an initial visit to the school and gardens (virtually or in person).Complete the written application with three references. Receive an invitation to return to teach a mini-lesson or lead an activity with youth (virtually or in person).Start Date: August 1, 2025 (if you can start sooner, we would love to have you start in June or July!).Epiphany Schools Garden Greenhouse Program Core ValuesOur programming takes place in our 1,000-square-foot greenhouse, our gardens (raised-bed and container vegetable garden, pollinator garden, rain garden, and more), our kitchens, and our edible landscape. We aim to involve all Epiphany's children, families, and staff in growing food, cooking, discussing and working towards food justice, and coming together as a community.

• Food Justice & Sustainability ? Cultivate inquiry and collaborate to implement community-based solutions for food sovereignty, climate change, and nutrition. Promoting food security and food sovereignty by: Growing culturally important crops -- and giving produce to families community.Supporting families to grow food at home, in our community garden plots, and in Boston community gardens. Centering family food stories and inviting families to teach students about cooking gardening.Connecting families with other food resources (i.e. Trader Joe’s weekly donation). Growing and giving thousands of seedlings to families and communities every spring. Connecting with community members and organizations (i.e. The Food Project, Nightingale Community Garden, Urban Farming Institute, Citysprouts).Using sustainable farming practices.
• Youth Leadership ? Empower students to co-create the program, design greenhouse garden spaces, and lead projects and activities in the greenhouse/garden throughout the year.Green Club: Elective program for middle school students focusing on leadership development and team building through student-driven projects. Greenhouse: Starting seeds and nurturing seedlings to transplant into our gardens; caring for tropical plants; propagating ornamental plants; adding art. Gardens: Seed keeping, design, planting, maintaining, harvesting, and enjoying. Cooking creatively with what we grow, repurposing food that would have gone to waste, and sharing and exploring family recipes and foods from around the world. Grads in the Garden: Employing Epiphany graduates to sustain and improve the program during the summer.
• Academic Inquiry & Projects ? Incorporate engaging, experiential garden-based learning into Epiphany’s curriculum at the Early Learning Center and middle school across grades and subjects.Middle school STEM:General science, biology, ecology, climate change. Math facts, area/perimeter/volume, graphing, measuring, spatial awareness, ratios. Middle school humanities: Writing: descriptive writing, creative writing, jumpstarts for expository inquiry.Reading and discussion (colonialism, land use, food sovereignty, seed and food stories, etc).Early Learning Center: Shapes, colors, five senses, gross/fine motor skills, interpersonal skills, and many more!
• Sanctuary & Community ? Create a calming, multi-purpose space to nurture community between the students, families, staff, and partner organizations at both schools.Provide a place of refuge for all (students, families, staff, community): year-round in the greenhouse, seasonally in our outdoor space.Provide nature-based therapeutic interventions for select students. Bring the ELC and the middle school together through joint projects and events. Multilingual signage and communication.