Youth Education Programs Intern

The mission of Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens is to inspire meaningful connections among people, plants, and nature through horticulture, education, and research.

Summary:

The Youth and Family Program Manager internship prepares students to enter the field of environmental or museum education by providing hands-on experience with informal youth and family educational programming and interpretation. Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens is regarded as among the foremost public gardens in the country. This internship allows students to participate directly in a wide variety of educational programs for children and families, as well as general guests. The intern will learn how an education department works to deliver programming to a diverse range of audiences in a public garden setting.

• Reports to:  Youth and Family Program Manager
• FLSA:  Non-exempt, hourly

Academic/Experiential-Learning Nexus: Youth and family programming in relation to horticulture, botany, and natural history.

The Youth Education Programs Internship provides hands-on experience supporting and implementing a wide variety of youth and family programming at the Gardens, while also giving the intern the opportunity to:

• Learn the art and science of live interpretation.
• Increase gardening knowledge.
• Learn what it takes to maintain a children’s garden.
• Learn best practices in customer service.

Essential Functions:

This job requires the performance of the following tasks, with or without accommodation. Incumbents may be regularly or occasionally required to assume additional responsibilities or perform additional tasks.  

Under the direction of the Youth & Family Program Manager, the Youth & Family Programs Educator will:

• Assist in leading our spring and summer nature exploration parent/child programs for ages 4-8. 
• Assist our Summer Camp Coordinator and Youth & Family Programs Educator in implementing nature- and garden-based summer camp programs for ages 4-8.
• Assist with the implementation of our self-guided family backpack programs for ages 4-10.
• Assist visiting instructors as they implement art and photography camps. 
• Carry out regular informal educational activities in the Bibby and Harold Alfond Children’s Garden such as story time and nature-based puppet shows and chicken feeding.
• Help to facilitate Discovery Carts and Nature/Garden Investigations in the Lerner Garden of the Five Senses, the Native Butterfly and Moth House, the Alfond Children’s Garden, Learning Apiary, and Native Bee Exhibit.
• Help care for the Learning Garden and greenhouse.
• Assist with the daily upkeep of the Alfond Children’s Garden play areas.

Qualifications:

• Must be comfortable and enjoy interacting with the public and with students of all ages, but especially children.
• Must have an interest in plants, gardening, and nature and a desire to learn more about the role of education in a public garden setting.
• Some coursework/experience in the field of education or the natural sciences is required.
• Must be comfortable interacting with guests, staff, board members, and the community; strive to exceed guest and program participant expectations; and create an exceptional experience for those visiting the Gardens.
• Must be able to work independently and as part of a team.
• Commitment to working across the organization to support the integration of IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility) principles into CMBG’s internal operations and its relationships with visitors and guests.

Work schedule:

40 hours/week, including Saturdays, from approximately mid-May to late August, with at least one day of the workweek a weekend day.  Flexible start and end date.

Physical and environmental factors:

This position has consistent, moderate physical demands. The position frequently involves hands-on garden education as well as some maintenance of learning gardens. The employee should be prepared for active physical work as a regular component of the work day throughout the Gardens’ open season.

Additional information:

The hourly wage for this position is $15/hr. Assistance finding housing is available. The successful candidate must provide his/her own transportation to/from the workplace.

To Apply

Please click "Apply" below, by February 28, 2022, to email a cover letter, resume and references to: Erika Huber, Youth and Family Program Manager. 

This is not necessarily an exhaustive list of responsibilities, skills, duties, requirements, efforts, or working conditions associated with the job. While this job description is intended to be an accurate reflection of the current job, the company reserves the right to revise the functions and duties of the job or to require that additional or different tasks be performed when circumstances dictate (such as emergencies, changes in personnel, work load, rush jobs, or technological developments).