2020 CitySprouts Summer Program Fellowship
Location: Cambridge and Boston, MA
Dates: June 22 – August 7th, 2020 (Program dates may shift slightly.
There is some flexibility to extend for funding sources that require more hours)
Hours: 8:00am – 4:30pm, Monday – Friday
Compensation: Unpaid Fellowship
Reporting to: Middle School Program Manager
CitySprouts is a non-profit school garden program that works with public schools to build capacity
to integrate the school garden into teachers’ curriculum and the school culture. CitySprouts
partners with 21 public schools in Cambridge and Boston, MA. Our Middle School Program consists of
both afterschool and summer programming with a goal to make the experience of garden-based learning
accessible to all young people.
CitySprouts’ Summer Program is based in Cambridge and Boston and provides 90 youth (ages
11-14) with hands-on learning through growing, harvesting, preparing and eating healthy food in an
urban garden. With an emphasis on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), the summer
program fosters a strong connection to their natural urban environment through working and learning
in the garden.
CitySprouts is seeking, energetic, diverse, and outgoing college students* to provide essential
support to the Summer Program. CitySprouts Summer Fellows can expect a significant learning
opportunity as well as opportunities for career exploration. Summer Fellows typically work as part
of a team, led by a CitySprouts Garden Educator and will also:
● Receive training in:
○ Urban agriculture
○ Teaching about food and the environment
○ Managing youth groups in an outdoor setting, using a restorative justice model
○ Building relationships with and teaching middle school youth
● Participate in weekly staff meetings
● Collaborate as part of the site garden maintenance team
● Engage in daily lesson and activity planning in inquiry and project-based curriculum.
● Help build youth’s STEM, social-emotional, gardening, and cooking skills
Expectations:
The CitySprouts Summer Fellowship is an opportunity for interested applicants to gain first-hand
experience working in the heart of a growing nonprofit organization. Summer Fellows will be given
significant responsibility toward making the summer program a successful experience for
all participants, as well as in representing CitySprouts to young people, families and the larger
community. All members of CitySprouts staff, including Fellows, are expected to uphold the
following expectations:
● Be curious, open and willing to try new things
● Express enthusiasm for the CitySprouts program in the garden, in the neighborhood and on field
trips
● Approach the physical labor of garden maintenance with energy and a positive attitude
● Stay mindful of the impact adults have on young people and foster a positive & respectful
relationship between youth, other Fellows and CitySprouts staff.
● We expect Fellows and staff to be thoughtful and reflective about how their own identities
affect interactions with youth and each other.
● Our office and summer sites are spread across Boston and Cambridge. Not all of our sites are
directly accessible from Public Transportation or walkable. I t is important that you h ave a
plan for transportation across the city. We’ve found those who have access to bikes or cars are
most successful when commuting to our summer sites.
Summer Fellow Responsibilities:
● Youth Development and Education
○ Assist the Garden Educator in teaching a team of summer middle school interns about STEM
topics, growing food, garden care, healthy cooking, science of the garden, food justice, community
service, and the natural environment
○ Work with the Garden Educator to support youth inquiry and project based activities and lessons
for interns related to the above topics
○ Mentor middle school youth and encourage their leadership skills
○ Implement restorative justice practices with youth and staff
○ Chaperone youth on field trips to local farms, food pantries and grocery stores
● Urban Agricultural Skills
○ Work as part of the site garden maintenance team, perform routine tasks such as watering,
weeding, harvesting and planting
○ Complete special garden maintenance and construction projects with garden crew
● Cooking and Food
○ Responsible for pantry inventory and cookbox organization at internship site
○ Responsible for guiding cooking and maintaining safety during youth meal preparation
Important Notes:
● Fellows are central to our summer staffing and the success of our summer youth program, so we
ask for a commitment to the full seven-week time period.
● Most Fellows work to either secure funding through their school’s service learning & career
center or receive internship credits from their college or university. Please note that CitySprouts
does not provide housing.
Qualifications:
Fluency in a second language strongly preferred Ability to do physical work outside
Application:
● Please submit a resume and cover letter. In your cover letter respond to the following prompts
in no more than a page
○ The experience I bring to this internship will be…
○ The skills and experience I hope to gain include…
*CitySprouts understands that offering a paid fellowship is important to having equitable hiring
practices and ensuring a diverse community. We are earnestly working towards this goal and hope to
be able to offer a paid fellowship experience in the future. Typically, this position has worked
best for college students because they can access a funding and support system that allows them to
participate in a demanding full time experience for 7-weeks. However, if a qualified candidate who
is not currently enrolled in college can give compelling evidence that they will be able to
complete the fellowship without that support, we will gladly consider them.
Please send one page application & resume to [email protected] Applications will be
accepted on a rolling basis, with preference given to those received before March
31st, 2020.
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