Summer Camp Educator

Do you LOVE being outside, working with children and exploring the natural world? Do you have experience or interest in working in a garden or farm setting? Are you excited to work collaboratively to make camp memorable for children aged 5-11 years old? Do you love to laugh, play with goats, run through the sprinklers, and eat snacks from the garden? We are looking for high energy, upbeat, compassionate educators to join our education team for Growing Gardens Summer Camp in 2025! 

Job Title: Summer Camp Educator

Job Status: Full Time, Seasonal Summer Employee, Average 40 hours per week

Reports To: Education Program Manager

Location: Boulder, CO

Pay: $770 per week of summer camps; training weeks will be prorated to reflect days worked.

Bonus: $150 finishing bonus upon successful completion of the summer camp season.

Required Online Training: Online training that will be completed independently before May 27th. These trainings will be compensated with a $100 stipend and can be completed in sections.

Required in person training: May 23rd 8:00-12:00 pm, May 27th – 30th, 8am-4pm. ($693 stipend)

Summer Camp Schedule: Summer Camp is weekly June 2nd – August 8th. (9 weeks total)

There is no Summer Camp the week of June 30th – July 4th. During this week, staff will work 2 days engaging in mid-season training and opportunities to connect with other programs in our organization. This takes place on June 30th & July 1st at a rate of $154 per day.

Time Off: We are able to accommodate some requests for unpaid time off. 

Mission

Growing Gardens’ mission is to cultivate community through regenerative urban agriculture. Our programs empower people of all ages, income levels, and abilities by connecting them with their local food system, each other, and the environment. 

Our organization values the diverse skills and individuals that come together to create a thriving community and workplace.  We are committed to the work we do, and bring our best selves each day, but we don’t take ourselves too seriously, have fun, and enjoy the process of doing good in our community.  We take care of each other and put people at the center of everything we do.

Summer Camp Descriptions

Children’s Peace Garden Summer Camp strives to inspire the next generation of environmental stewards through hands-on learning experiences in the garden. We’ve found that connecting children with their food has lifelong impacts on their health and eating choices. We offer week long, full day camps for nine weeks in the summer for youth aged 5-11. Each week has a unique theme such as Create Roots: Art in the Garden, Sprouts and Shovels: Growing Future Farmers, and Farm to Fork Cooking. We run two different camps in the summer, Growing Gardens Summer Camp, and Goats and Gardens Summer Camp. Educators will rotate into each of these camps, and get opportunities to participate in both activity plans!

Job Purpose:

Growing Gardens’ Summer Camp Educator works to deliver high quality summer camp educational programs. Educators co-lead a group of 15 campers each week and teach students about our farm and all it has to offer through lessons, activities, crafts, games and basic cooking. Working with the Education Program Manager, Summer Camp Educators are responsible for leading children through activities and creating a fun and engaging week on the farm for our summer campers.

Major Functions and Accountabilities

• Teach garden-based education programming to children and lead craft activities, games, stories and make snacks each day.
• Lead camp (with co-counselor) from 8:30 am-3:30 pm during the 9 Summer Camp weeks. Camp is located at the Boulder Farm Site or at the North Boulder Recreation Center depending on camp week.
• Work with fellow Summer Camp Educators to lead week-long summer camp sessions. All supplies, curriculum, and training will be provided by Growing Gardens prior to camp start date.
• Set up and clean up camp each day with the team
• Maintain positive relationships with campers, parents and fellow staff.
• Record keeping and administrative work documenting programming.
• This camp takes place outside in all weather conditions, so staff are expected to be prepared to work and facilitate programming in these various environments.

Required Qualifications

• The candidate must have at least 460 hours of satisfactory and verifiable experience working with school-age children. 460 Hours must be with children aged 4-18 in groups of four or more. Babysitting hours cannot be counted.
• Experience teaching in an outdoor or environmental education setting.
• Responsibility, reliability and organizational skills.
• Exceptional relationship building and conflict resolution skills.
• Ability to self motivate and work independently as well as collaboratively with the team.
• Ability to adapt to changing situations: weather, curriculum, child needs, etc.
• Consistent positive attitude and ability to enthusiastically work all day outdoors with children.
• The position is contingent upon the satisfactory results of a background check.

Additional Perks:

• Access to organically grown produce on a weekly basis
• Access to discounted Pro deals on outdoor gear
• Access to a wide variety of organic seeds and 50% off at our weekly Farm Stand