Temporary ROOTS Planting Seeds Summer Intern

Wesleyan Assurance Society • Middletown, CT

14d • $18 • Onsite

About The Position

The Bailey College of the Environment is seeking interns to serve in food justice organizations across the state through our Planting Seeds program. The intern is managed by their on-site supervisor, as well as a BCOE designated supervisor. The internship is part of a broader project building a network of food justice and environmental justice groups in CT and supporting student engagement. Interns will work on-site four days a week. One day a week, they will engage in a food justice curriculum with the BCOE Project Coordinator (Malana Rogers-Bursen) and the Professor of the Practice (Christine Caruso). Transportation and lunch provided for this course. New Britain ROOTS Mission: We cultivate community connections and equitable access to quality food through empowerment and learning with the people who grow, prepare, and eat food in New Britain. The New Britain ROOTS intern will work in all facets of our summer programming and in partnership with our summer staff. The Summer Program Intern will work directly with and be supervised by ROOTS' Program Manager, Jenna Van Donselaar.

Requirements

• Ability to work independently and with groups of youth and adults
• Willingness to learn new skills
• Gardening/farming and customer service experience
• Enjoys working with others outside
• Passion for food justice and social justice
• Valid driver's license
• The intern is required to work 37.5 hours a week, with 30 hours at their site and 7.5 hours rotating around the state for the workshop times.
• The 30 hours at their site are flexible dependent on the sites needs.
• Applicants must submit a cover letter and resume.

Responsibilities

• Assist in supervising and mentoring high school-aged youth in ROOTS’ City Growers program.
• Work alongside youth in the garden, assigning garden tasks and working with youth to maintain our network of school gardens.
• Support youth in staffing the farmers market, assuring all produce is labeled for sale correctly.
• Staff the Farmers’ Market Booth each Wednesday and assist those participating in our market “Bee Bucks” program.
• Provide staffing assistance when needed on our mobile farmers market.
• Pick up produce from local farm partners when needed using ROOTS vehicles.
• Coordinate volunteers for the community fridge program.
• Coordinate donations for community fridge.
• Create promotional materials for the community fridge.
• Harvest produce from gardens for delivery to community fridges or Farmers’ Market.
• Provide general upkeep and garden maintenance to 10 community and school gardens.
• Tasks include weeding, watering, planting, pruning, and garden planning.
• Gather curriculum materials and program supplies for staff at our 2 summer school locations.
• Serve as a substitute in the event an assistant educator is absent from the program (Elementary and middle school).
• Create social media posts for the ROOTS social media pages.
• Write a blog post at the end of your internship describing the experience.
• The program intern will be expected to attend weekly staff meetings to discuss their progress, goals, and outcomes.

Benefits

• Wesleyan offers a broad range of employee benefits and development opportunities, including comprehensive group insurance plans, wellness programs and incentives, generous paid time off and retirement plans, flexible work schedules, employee and dependent tuition programs for those who qualify.
• Detailed information on the benefits of working at Wesleyan is located at: https://wesleyan.edu/hr/careers/prospective-resources.html.

What This Job Offers

• Career Level: Intern
• Education Level: No Education Listed