Position Title: Seasonal Education Lead Instructor, Children’s Garden

Department: Children’s Education

Reports to: Children’s Garden Co-Coordinators

FLSA Status: Part-time Seasonal, Non-exempt

Compensation: $25.00 per hour

Position Description:

Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s Children’s Education programs are renowned for teaching hands-on gardening and plant science to children. The Children’s Garden lead instructor will guide children to learn how to grow, maintain, and harvest vegetables, herbs, and flowers, make simple recipes with garden produce, care for the environment, and explore the natural world.

The Children’s Garden lead instructor will oversee and co-teach the Trees and Saplings program for toddlers and their caregivers during spring and fall. The lead instructor will also develop and teach summer drop-off programming for a specific age group (4 through 13). This includes horticulture and bed maintenance, cleanup, lesson planning, acquiring grocery items, preparing simple snacks, and gathering and prepping program supplies. The lead instructor will also assist with training sessions for Children’s Garden instructors and other programming as needed.

This position is 4 days a week, 30 hours per week, March 12, 2025 through November 1, 2025. During spring and fall, the schedule is Wednesday through Saturday. During summer, the schedule is Tuesday through Friday.

Schedule:

March through early June, and September through November

• 8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays
• 10 a.m.–6 p.m. Fridays

June through August

• 8 a.m.–4 p.m., Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays

Responsibilities:

• Design, prepare, and teach hands-on gardening lessons to a group of 10 young children (2–4 years old) and their adult partners.
• Design, prepare, and teach hands-on gardening lessons to a group of 12 children between ages 4–13 on their own, alongside teen volunteers.
• Ensure that assigned garden plots are maintained according to weekly schedule (including planting, weeding, mulching, and watering).
• Develop and lead supplementary enrichment activities such as seasonal cooking, nature crafts and science exploration.
• Lead or co-teach training sessions for Children’s Garden instructors.
• Acquire and order supplies and groceries for weekly seasonal lessons.
• Prepare and set up all program materials and clean up after programming.
• Participate in weekly/biweekly team and departmental meetings and professional development sessions.
• Assist in teaching other education programs as needed.

Qualifications:

• Formal or non-formal early-childhood and elementary education experience, ideally in a classroom or outdoor setting
• Experience with gardening, plants, horticulture, and/or botany
• Flexibility and willingness to take on a variety of tasks; ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, highly collaborative environment
• Experience and comfort working in a team with staff from diverse backgrounds
• High level of responsibility, reliability, and motivation
• Ability to perform physical labor and work outdoors in various weather conditions
• Passion for education, gardening, and fun

Benefits:

• BBG offers certain benefits to part-time employees including:
  
  1. Up to 56 hours of sick leave
  2. Short-term disability/New York Paid Family Leave
     
• As a 501(c)3, BBG is a Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Eligible Employer.
• Museum Pass which provides employees the opportunity to enter many museums in New York City for free
• Free Garden admission for employee plus one guest
• Employee discount at BBG’s retail shop and food venues

How to Apply:

To be considered for this position, please submit an application by clicking Apply below. Applications submitted without a résumé and cover letter will not be considered.

No telephone calls for position inquiries, please. Applicants with disabilities who need assistance with the online system, or who may require a reasonable accommodation during the application process, should contact Human Resources at hr@bbg.org. 

Brooklyn Botanic Garden is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer.