Garden Educator

Job Opening | Garden Educator 2026

Purpose: At One Cool Earth, we believe everyone deserves a place to grow. Through our garden-based education program, we partner with public schools across San Luis Obispo County to cultivate healthy, happy, and smart youth. By transforming schoolyards into thriving garden classrooms, we create meaningful impacts on childhood wellness, academic engagement, and social-emotional development. Our curriculum centers around three core themes—Food Forests, Zero Waste, and Water Wise—bringing environmental science and nutrition to life. At the heart of this work are our Garden Educators, who serve as on-the-ground ambassadors, nurturing the gardens, leading hands-on lessons, and empowering teachers to use these spaces as dynamic outdoor learning labs.

Locations:

Start Date: ASAP - June 6th, 2026 with the possibility of rehire in August 2026

Seasonal Position Hours/Duration: Up to 27 hours per week, dependent on your availability

Preferred Qualifications

- Excellent rapport with children, with at least one year experience in educational settings

- Familiarity and confidence working in a garden or strong motivation to learn in a hands-on environment

- Knowledge and skills in facilitating social emotional learning

- Knowledge of Indigenous communities; a willingness to learn and teach about them

- Strong oral and written communication skills; including public speaking skills

- Ability to work independently and be self-directed

- Able to work with people of diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds

- Creative, flexible, and hard-working; able to manage your commitments responsibly

- Enjoy learning new things and challenging yourself

- A good sense of humor, wonder, and curiosity Desired Skills

- Proficiency with Google Docs and Google Calendar Primary Responsibilities The Garden Educator is self-directed and a self-starter who works to:

- Improve student science understanding by providing engaging lessons based on ecology, earth, and life sciences, especially on the subjects of watersheds, food forests, and zero waste

- Increase student knowledge of the food cycle, interest in growing fresh fruits and vegetables, and willingness to try new fruits and vegetables

- Teach engaging garden-based lessons (30 - 60 min.) to 25 students at a time (3 to 6 classes)

- Coordinates, oversees and facilitates students’ hands-on experiences in the garden(planting, tending, harvesting, cooking, tasting)

- Consistent and reliable communication with classroom teachers; reminders for upcoming lessons and collaboration to ensure lessons in the garden support the classroom curriculum

- Works effectively with community members, volunteers, and others to coordinate school-wide garden events

-Maintain accurate and timely garden records and reports

- Provide basic maintenance for gardens: planting, weeding, pruning, composting, harvesting, minor irrigation adjustments and repairs

- Share garden updates with school via a monthly newsletter and Facebook post

- Communicate effectively with the Leadership staff to meet performance expectations

- Attend team meetings and training Physical Demands: The physical demands described here represent those that an employee must meet to perform the essential functions of this job successfully. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions. The ability to perform normal garden tasks, including digging, carrying, stooping, weeding, reaching, walking on varied terrain, and lifting and carrying materials and potted plants weighing up to 50 lbs. Garden Educators attend a mandatory weekly, 2-hour paid meeting session on Mondays starting August 19, 2024, through June 7, 2025. All Garden Educators must attend a beginning-of-the-school-year training in mid-August.

Certificates, Licenses, Registrations: The applicant must possess a valid driver’s license, a reliable vehicle with proof of insurance, and be able to pass a background check and TB test to work at schools.

Compensation & Benefits: Be part of a growing, mission-driven team; Change children’s lives for the better; Flexible scheduling; Optional 401(k); $20-$22 hour DOE. Extensive professional development/ training schedule.

To Apply: Please send your resume and a cover letter to Natalie Perez at nataliep@onecoolearth.org. We look forward to welcoming a passionate educator to our team!

We strongly encourage applications from Black and Indigenous people and other people of color, people from working-class backgrounds, women, LGBTQIA people, and other people of historically excluded identities. Data shows that women and BIPOC candidates more frequently do not apply for a job because they don’t feel that they meet all of the qualifications listed. If you feel passionate about our efforts and believe that you have the skills to accomplish the job, we want to hear from you!

Parents make excellent candidates as well, and we strive to accommodate the childcare needs of parents by providing flexible scheduling built around the school day and supporting the presence of children at our team meetings. We are an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.