Urban Harvest STL
URBAN HARVEST STL: Position Description
EDUCATOR – Little Sprouts
Urban Harvest STL builds community around inclusive and resilient local food systems. We believe all members of our community should have equitable access to fresh, healthy food regardless of socioeconomic status, race, or location and the ability to grow it, if they desire. We grow healthy food and community in St. Louis through urban agriculture, environmental sustainability and public programming. We manage a network of urban farms and distribute the majority of food we grow through partnerships with other nonprofits to improve fresh food access for St. Louisans impacted by low food access.
Little Sprouts Early Childhood Garden Education, pairs farm management with a hands-on weekly gardening program for Pre-K students. Urban Harvest STL provides a gardening curriculum focused on age-appropriate, nature-based learning for 175 preschoolers located at two early childhood centers. These lessons help children connect with their food, nature, and their bodies. Each activity reflects and reinforces skills learned in the traditional classroom, such as fine motor skills development, language acquisition, and shape and color identification. Produce grown in the garden is used in cooking demonstrations and taste tests during garden classes. The remaining produce is provided to the school cafeteria or distributed to families.
Position
The Little Sprouts Educator is responsible for weekly lessons for the Little Sprouts school gardens at Flance Early Learning Center and Guardian Angel Child Development Center, both located in North St. Louis. The Educator will work with the Director of Education on curriculum implementation, activity development and evaluation tracking. The Educator will work in close partnership with the Little Sprouts Farm Manager to align crop plans, harvest dates, programming, lesson activities, and overall garden management. Other tasks may include assisting with CSA farm share distribution, farm work days, staff meetings, and assisting with events throughout the season, as needed.
Position requires 15 hours/week. Tuesday and Wednesday morning are required work days. Compensation is $19/hour and includes a $175 monthly healthcare reimbursement, paid wellness days, holidays and vacation. Annual cell phone reimbursement at $35 per month is provided in November. Use of a personal vehicle will be necessary for work activities, with reimbursement for mileage at the federal mileage rate available if needed.
Accountability
The Educator is directly accountable to the Director of Education with strong collaborative efforts expected with the Little Sprouts Farm Manager and Partner school staff.
Responsibilities
- Weekly Little Sprouts Curriculum and Instruction
- Plan and implement early learning curriculum from Little Sprouts resource database for classes
- Conduct weekly lessons on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings with preschool classes, ensure all instructional materials are prepared and ready onsite for instruction
Guardian Angel: Lessons take place March – October, with the goal of offering classes year round
Flance Early Learning Center: Lessons take place year round (winter lessons are classroom-based) - Meet regularly with the Director of Education and Little Sprouts Farm Manager for farm and curriculum coordination
- Communicate weekly with Little Sprouts volunteers and partner agencies to share lesson plans
- Coordinate with partner staff for additional on-site enrichment opportunities (e.g. worm bin, toddler class, classroom resource packets)
Partner & Community Engagement:
- Meet annually as Little Sprouts team with School staff to discuss upcoming events and needs
- Assist with family engagement programming at partner school locations quarterly, which may include evening or weekend events
- Assist Little Sprouts Farm Manager with CSA Family Farm Share, including with packaging, resource development, and share distribution, as necessary
- Lead teacher training and staff engagement sessions during annual professional development events
- Supervise Summer interns and long-term volunteers for lesson support
- Conduct educational tours of the Little Sprouts farms for interested parties, as necessary
Administrative Duties:
- Organize and maintain updated lesson plans in annual curriculum document to be shared with partner schools, volunteers, and other staff as needed
- Ensure attendance is taken and program assessment tools are implemented during garden lessons
- Maintain attendance and assessment records on Google Drive; analyze data and derive outcomes for program reporting, including grant and impact reports
- Assist with developing and administering program surveys for teacher and family feedback
Qualifications & Skills
- At least one year of experience working with, mentoring, or teaching young children in professional or volunteer capacity required
- Degree in a relevant field or combination of experience and training resulting in equivalent knowledge and skills
- A passion for early childhood education, health, gardening and community development
- Strong organizational, time management and communication skills
- Ability to work effectively independently and in collaboration with diverse groups of people and stakeholders
- Must have own transportation to and from Little Sprouts school sites, picking up and transporting supplies, and other required travel. Mileage reimbursement available.
To apply, please send a resume and cover letter to: careers@urbanharveststl.org with the subject “Educator – Little Sprouts”. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled, with the priority deadline May 30, 2026. Priority start date is June 8th, 2026.
Equity and Anti-Discrimination Policy
Urban Harvest STL does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, military status, or marital status in any of its activities or operations. This policy applies to hiring and firing of staff, selection of volunteers, and provision of services. We are committed to creating a welcoming environment on our farms for all community participants, visitors, partners, employees, and board members. We acknowledge that intersecting structures in our food system marginalize, oppress, and exploit Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC). We also acknowledge that BIPOC growers have shaped agriculture as we know it today, while their crucial contributions have gone largely unrecognized. By centering racial equity, we commit to working toward a just food system in all aspects of our work. We expect that staff members will advocate for our core value of equity in all aspects of their stewardship of our organization’s mission and goals.
