Education Program Manager

Over the last 26 years, Growing Gardens has brought gardening, nutrition education and produce donations to over 162,000 Boulder County residents.

We offer a variety of programs to get people of all ages, backgrounds, income levels, and abilities involved in growing and cooking their own food. These educational opportunities are paired with seed, plant start, and produce donations, as well as gardening space, to impart greater food security and hunger relief in our community.

The Growing Gardens Education Program Manager plays an important role in developing, implementing and teaching farm-based environmental education programs for preschool and elementary age youth.  The EPM oversees the management of and is the lead educator in our Nutrition Education Program which offers free programming in English and Spanish. The EPM is also the manager of our 9 week Summer Camp programs. They are responsible for hiring and training a diverse group of summer educators and assist in training our education interns. Working with the Education team, this position is essential in setting and attaining program goals and objections and to develop and implement a variety of learning opportunities in our community.

Job Title: Education Program Manager

Job Status: Salaried position is an average of 40 hours a week (hours do change seasonally and can go up to 45+ hours during the summer season)

Reports To: Education Program Director

Salary: $45,000-$54,000 annually depending on experience and qualifications Additional compensation provided for Spanish language speaking and writing skills

Benefits: Generous Benefits Package includes: Health and Dental Insurance, paid Holiday, Floating Holiday, PTO and paid sick time, monthly cell phone reimbursement stipend, discount on plant starts and vegetables, IRA Benefit.

 The experience we offer:

• The opportunity to pair your work with your passion and to have a real impact in affecting positive change in our community.
• Professional development opportunities
• Supportive organizational culture where you have independence and room to be creative.
• The chance to be part of a thriving team culture where successes are celebrated together and coworkers enthusiastically share knowledge and support.
• A beautiful location: our office is on an urban farm in Boulder, Colorado.

Preferred Weekly Schedule: Monday – Friday, weekends and evenings as needed based on events.

Preferred Start Date: Monday, February 24th, 2025

Qualified applicants will be interviewed starting January 13th until the position is filled.

Candidates from minority or marginalized groups or with multicultural backgrounds or experience are especially encouraged to apply. Growing Gardens is dedicated to the principles of equal employment opportunity. We actively foster an environment that is free of racism, discrimination, bias, and harassment; where all individuals are treated with dignity, safety and respect.

Education Program Manager Major Job Responsibilities:

The Education Program Manager oversees the development and management of, and is the lead educator in, our Nutrition Education and Summer Camp programs.  The Summer Camp program runs for 9 weeks of summer and the Nutrition Education program involves field trips and classroom visits throughout the school year.    

• Develops, teaches, and manages all aspects of Nutrition Education programming, including classroom visits to schools and on-farm field trips.
• Develops, teaches and manages all aspects of our 9 week Summer Camp program
• Effectively hire, train and manage 7 Summer Camp Educators
• Manage and schedule gleaning at the Boulder County Farmers Market on Wednesday evenings May, August, September and October.
• Coordinate produce donations to nutrition education partner preschool and elementary schools

Program Manager Specific Job Responsibilities:

Summer Camp

• Effectively hire, train and manage 7 Summer Camp Educators
• Manage Summer camp paperwork to comply with School Age Child Care Licensing requirements
• Oversee parent communication and daily summer camp schedules
• Develop and plan all 9 weeks of summer camp with the support of the Education Team.

Nutrition Education

• Coordinate with Nutrition Education partners to donate seeds, plant starts and produce
• Develop partnerships and teach Nutrition Education programming in elementary and preschools and to lead on farm field trips
• Lead class visits at schools in the area – this position does involve driving to different schools to teach
• Coordinate produce donations to nutrition education partner preschools and elementary schools
• Curriculum development that aligns with CO state standards and comprehensive health standards for nutrition education
• Build and maintain trustworthy, professional relationships with program partners, teachers, participants, and parents.
• Lead educator in Longmont for our Children’s Peace Garden Programming (Growing Gardens has two sites in Longmont that education takes place at)
• Roughly 50 hours of Nutrition Education programming each year is taught in Spanish.

Other Programming

• Manage and schedule gleaning at the Boulder County Farmers Market on Wednesday evenings in May, August, September and October. This position splits this responsibility with the Education Coordinator.
• Attending outreach and other GG events during evening and weekend hours
• Weekly chore shift with the goat herd from November – February
• Teach Horticulture Therapy programming with support of the Education Team.
• Assist Education Team as needed in all other Children Peace Garden Programming (Field Trips, Class Visits, School Day Off Programs, Etc.)
• Train and support interns assisting with or teaching programming

Admin and Curriculum Development

• Collaborate with Education team members to develop new programming, create new curriculum and review programming process and procedures
• Support Education team in collecting paperwork for School Day Off Programming
• Track and record date for program reports

Education Program Manager Qualifications and Required Skills:

For this position the candidate MUST have one of the following:

• 4 year degree in recreation, education or human services OR
• 2 years of college coursework (in any discipline) in addition to 910 hours of verifiable kid time OR
• 5,460 hours of verifiable kid time + additional training through the state

Please note: In your cover letter – please indicate which of the above educational and/or kid time qualifications you meet in BOLD text directly under your signature line

• Conversational Spanish/English Required – Bilingual preferred
• 1-year experience managing interns, staff or other teams
• Excellent communication and conflict resolutions skills
• Excellent relationship building skills
• Excellent decision-making skills and response to high-pressure situations
• Strong computer skills over a wide variety of platforms
• Excellent accuracy and attention to detail and ability to meet deadlines
• Ability to work independently as well as collaboratively with a small staff
• Ability to organize and prioritize short and long term tasks and projects in a fast paced environment
• Experience with organic gardening/farming highly desired
• Experience with Nutrition, Dietetics, etc highly desired