Environmental Education Coordinator

Organizational Background:
A parent–teacher association/organization, parent-teacher-friend association, or parent–teacher–student association is a formal organization composed of parents, teachers and staff that is intended to facilitate parental participation in a school. The Sierra House Parent Teacher Association (PTA) is supporting an Americorps position to provide staff capacity to implement the “Sierra House Growing Dome Program,” the school recycling program, Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) enrichment in alignment with the FOSS Next Generation Science curriculum used by the school district.

Sierra House Elementary School is a public Title One institution and has a student population of 411 students with 58% of these students designated as low socioeconomic status.

In 2014, the Sierra House Elementary PTA raised funding to develop the ‘Sierra House Growing Dome Program’. This project includes two high-tech geodesic growing domes (www.growingspaces.com) that grow food year round and an outdoor learning area. At Sierra House our growing domes and garden are an integral part of our everyday curriculum and composting is a part of our vision and educational program. Students currently plant seeds to create their own food, and are working to create a pollinator garden to bring pollinators to the garden to increase our food yield and harvest the food we grow to eat locally in our school and community. Students are learning experientially where their food comes from and how it can be grown sustainably in an alpine setting. Eating the produce that they have grown in the domes themselves, is connecting students to healthy eating habits and promoting a SNAP Position Description whole host of cascading positive health benefits. The results so far have been wonderfully positive.

In addition to the growing domes, Sierra House has a STEM learning room and a Charlie Cart which bring the science learning indoors during the winter months. The Charlie Cart brings produce grown on-site into the classroom for cooking and eating by the students.

In addition to using the tools on campus, the Americorps Member will collaborate with the South Tahoe Environmental Education Coalition (STEEC). STEEC is a network of more than 20 local agencies and organizations that collaborate to bring environmental education resources to the Tahoe Basin. STEEC is “dedicated to bringing high quality environmental education programs and projects to Lake Tahoe youth.” STEEC has created and implemented new programs for Lake Tahoe Unified School District (LTUSD) schools, reaching thousands of students each year.

Number of Member Positions at this Site: 1

Site Supervisor’s Name(s) and Title(s): Cary Brown, RSP Instructional Assistant

Position Description:
This AmeriCorps position will increase capacity to implement the above described “Sierra House Growing Dome Program,” which includes the school lunch-time recycling program, and Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) enrichment, which is in alignment with the FOSS Next Generation Science curriculum. The member will have leading roles in the grow domes/garden, lunch room recycling, and lesson planning and delivery in K-5 classrooms. A primary focus is garden maintenance, planting and harvesting to support students preparing and eating what they grow on site. During summer months, there will be a decrease in hours focused on academic lessons and an increase in fieldwork within the grow areas. Summer service also includes summer camp, family work days, lesson planning and project development for the following year. The member will maintain attendance/lesson/project records for the school and AmeriCorps.

The Americorps Member will collaborate with the South Tahoe Environmental Education Coalition to bring enhanced community environmental education opportunities from environmental organizations and agencies to the school setting.

Site-Specific Training Provided:
Training will be provided through real time/onsite training. Our Garden coordinator, Cary Brown and former garden leads Kristi Wilson and Michelle McLean have collaborated to put together a scope of service for the garden through the year. We have recently adopted a new science curriculum that requires extensive organization and set up. Teachers, SNAP Position Description principal and district science Content Area Specialist will assist in training for this part of the job. Our custodial staff and kitchen team along with our CTE coordinator will train on how to coordinate and facilitate our recycling program.

Things to Note:
This position will spend much of the time outdoors year round in our Sierra House grow dome and gardens. Extensive bending, weeding, lifting, raking, digging, straining and other physical labor is part of this position. This position will also be required to collaborate closely with staff, students and families in our Kindergarten- 5th grade school, including 25 students with various disabilities.

The applicant should possess strong communication and organizational skills and be willing to do whatever is needed to support our school community in our garden, science, STEAM and recycling programs.

Qualifications:

• Must be 18+ years of age and high school graduates or GED recipients (or minimum of 17 and working toward a high school diploma or GED); members must agree to obtain either a diploma or GED before using an education award; meeting full list of member eligibility requirements in 45 CFR §2522.200(a)
• Must be a U.S. citizen, U.S. national or lawful permanent resident
• Must participate in a national criminal history background check pursuant to 45 CFR §2540.200-206
• Organized, responsible, motivated, professional
• Demonstrates initiative, follow-through, and reliability
• Strong communication, collaboration, and public speaking skills
• Interest or education in marketing or communications a plus

Benefits:

• Monthly stipend of $2,500 per month
• Good health, vision and dental insurance
• Up to 170 hours of technical, ecological, and skills-development training
• Professional experience and networking- $500 Individual Training Budget
• AmeriCorps members that successfully complete a 1700-hour service term will earn a $10,000 combined Segal Educational Award and Cal for All Education Award for use on existing qualified student loans or future higher education expenses
• Student loan forbearance during service term if Member qualifies