Teaching Farm Fellowship in Alabama

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Teaching Farm Fellowship in Alabama – 2017 

Position Description

The Teaching Farm Fellowshio supports Jones Valley Teaching Farm (JVTF) urban farm staff between Summer/Early Fall 2017 and Summer 2018 in farming tasks across 7 teaching farm sites.  You can learn more about our work at jvtf.org.

About Jones Valley Teaching Farm

Jones Valley Teaching Farm (JVTF) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) located in Birmingham, Alabama. We partner with Birmingham City Schools to deliver Good School Food (GSF), an innovative, hands-on food education program.

We provide our partner schools with Farm Labs-extensive outdoor classroom and school garden spaces. Full-time GSF instructors collaborate with teachers to develop and deliver programs and curricula that align food and nutrition concepts with standards in math, science, social studies, and language arts.

The Teaching Farm Fellowship

In 2013/2012 Jones Valley launched the Teaching Farm Fellowship program, designed to build capacity for the growth of Good School Food.  Fellows have served in many important capacities in our organization, and contributed greatly to JVTF’s direction and success.  We strive to partner with individuals who show exceptional initiative and are self-reliant and confident.  A Farm Fellow in the 2017-2018 class can expect to serve in the following responsibilities:

• Work with Urban Farm team to support downtown urban farm operations; this is a 3 acre production farm in the heart of downtown Birmingham.
• Under supervision of Farm Director, assist with site maintenance at all 6 teaching farms throughout Birmingham.
• Participate in JVTF community and fundraising events
• Participate in team meetings and professional development opportunities

This is an excellent opportunity for someone looking to build farming skills, working with an exceptional team of urban farmers. 

What We Look For:

A successful candidate must possess extraordinary professionalism, flexibility, intuitiveness, organizational and communication skills. In addition, Farm Fellows must be comfortable and enjoy working with our energetic, high performing team in an urban setting, alongside many students from under resourced communities. 

• Believers in the power of education and food
• Undergraduate or Associates degree (preferred)
• Experience teaching in a classroom or leading outdoor education (preferred)
• A positive and constructive attitude, self-direction, self-motivation
• An openness and drive for learning, assessing and improving your work
• Must be capable of participating in the physically demanding needs of gardening and landscape work outdoors in all weather
• An understanding of (or desire to understand) organic and sustainable growing practices
• A willingness to innovate and contribute to the growth and evolution of JVTF as an organization

Perks

• Personal and Professional Growth: This is an opportunity for working at the community level- you will observe the growth and development of a nonprofit with ambitious goals, and your work will directly impact students. We provide extensive opportunities for Professional Development throughout the year, with sessions pertaining to educational pedagogy, sustainable farming practices, community development, and food and nutrition.
• Culture: We have a strong and supportive staff culture.
• Good Food: We have one of the most robust, productive urban farms in the country, and our staff has access to fresh organic produce all year long.

Duration and Compensation

The Teaching Farm Fellowship is a collaboration between Jones Valley Teaching Farm and the AmeriCorps VISTA program through the Corporation for National and Community Service.  The Farming Fellowship position is a one-year, full-time position.  Fellows will receive an AmeriCorps Vista Allowances Package. This position begins in Summer/Early Fall, 2017.

Application Information

To apply, please send a cover letter and résumé with “ Farming Fellow” in the subject line to fellows@jvtf.org.  In this cover letter, please highlight previous relevant experience(s).