Kitchen AmeriCorps Member

Position Description

The Edible Schoolyard (ESY) Kitchen AmeriCorps Member spends 1700 service hours refining kitchen maintenance and teaching skills, while engaging in the day-to-day responsibilities of an educational kitchen. S/he assists in designing and teaching of daily kitchen classes for sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students, participates in lesson planning and recipe development, and works with the kitchen staff to develop and maintain an interactive teaching kitchen. The Kitchen AmeriCorps Member reports to the Head Chef Teacher.

 

About the Edible Schoolyard (ESY)

The mission of the Edible Schoolyard Berkeley is to teach essential life skills and support academic learning through hands-on classes in a one-acre organic garden and kitchen classroom. The Edible Schoolyard curriculum is fully integrated into the school day and teaches students how their choices about food affect their health, the environment and their communities. At ESY, students participate in all aspects of growing, harvesting, and preparing nutritious, seasonal produce during the academic day and in after school classes.

The Edible Schoolyard is a program of the Edible Schoolyard Project, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded by Alice Waters. The mission of the Edible Schoolyard Project is to build and share a national food curriculum for the education system. We envision this “edible education,” like physical education, as part of the core curriculum of every school in the country. By providing all students with a free nutritious lunch and interactive experiences in kitchen and garden classrooms, edible education has the power to transform the health and values of every child in the United States.

 

Duties include but are not limited to:

Teaching

  • Design and conduct daily kitchen classes for sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students
  • Guide students through all aspects of kitchen lessons to ensure skills and values development, understanding of seasonality, and connections to curricular studies
  • Mentor individual students in and out of class, model respect, curiosity for learning and encourage students’ interests and talents
  • Prepare dishes using fresh, seasonal produce grown by students in the ESY garden
  • Organize, set up, and break down all kitchen lessons
  • Design and conduct lessons for adults participating in the annual Edible Schoolyard Academy and for students participating in the Edible Schoolyard summer program
  • Design and teach an after school class series once a year

Lesson Development and Documentation

  • Collaborate with kitchen staff in the development of kitchen lessons that are integrated with classroom teaching, ESY standards, and academic standards
  • Contribute to lessons and recipe development to maximize use of seasonal produce grown in the ESY garden

Kitchen

  • Meet weekly with kitchen staff to identify and prioritize kitchen maintenance, class preparation and other relevant tasks
  • Close down back of house dishwasher station daily
  • Empty and clean the compost bins daily
  • Maintain the green table domain
  • Maintain and clean refrigerators regularly

Communication and Outreach

  • Participate in ESY staff meetings and professional development
  • Maintain healthy relationships with ESY staff, King teachers and administrative staff, students, parents, neighbors, school garden and kitchen educators and ESY affiliates
  • Maintain an awareness of and actively participate in ESY events, school events and relevant community events
  • Represent ESY program to the wider community
  • Contribute regularly to the online ESY journal

 

Qualifications

  • A minimum of two years experience teaching youth
  • A minimum of two years experience with cooking and a desire to keep learning
  • Bilinguality and/or artistic abilities are a plus
  • Sense of humor is a must
  • Experience with basic computer programs and writing is required
  • An ability to work in a physically demanding environment

 

Duration and Compensation

This is a full-time year-round position; salary is paid by AmeriCorps.

 

Application Information

Please go to the BAYAC website to apply to become a member; on your membership application, you must indicate your interest in the Edible Schoolyard Garden AmeriCorps position in order to be considered for the position. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.