Position Locations: East and South Vancouver (David Thompson and Vancouver Technical Secondary School) or Coquitlam (Millside Centre), BC.

Application Deadline: Review of applications begins January 15th.

The Position 

If you are passionate about working with teens (Grades 9 to 12), cultivating personal growth and community leadership through food, this could be your job!

As a SOYL Program Facilitator, you will work to inspire and engage SOYL youth at one of our schoolyard farms. You will work with a co-facilitator to inspire and engage youth by leading farm tasks and workshops, assisting with logistics and communications, and delivering the program.  A key part of the SOYL program is getting youth participants involved in working on the farms. In this role, you will assist the Farm Team in growing food on school grounds, including leading youth in taking part in crop production (seeding, weeding, transplanting), harvesting and perennial/landscape care. You will be supervised and supported by the Youth on the Farm Program Lead and Youth on the Farm Program Assistant.

Before SOYL begins, working hours can be completed between 8am-5pm, Monday-Friday with work locations including our program sites in Vancouver and Coquitlam, the Fresh Roots office, or your home. On market days (Wednesdays for the Vancouver crew and Thursdays for the Coquitlam crew), your schedule will be shifted  to accommodate the markets. When SOYL is running, your working hours will be 8:30 am to 4:30 pm at your program site.

Key Details

Locations: East and South Vancouver (David Thompson and Vancouver Technical Secondary School) or Coquitlam (Millside Centre), BC.

Dates: June 9-August 15. One bonus vacation day. 

Pay Rate: $19.50-$21.50/hr. All seasonal staff receive paid sick leave. 

Hours of Work: Monday to Friday, 8am-5pm. Average of 37.5 hours/week with longer hours during SOYL. 

IMPORTANT NOTE: Position is pending funding, which may alter final employment contracts. This is a Canada Summer Jobs position. Applicants must be 30 or under, eligible to work in Canada, and a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or have refugee status.

Essential Responsibilities

• Assist in the planning and preparation of the SOYL Program
• Support and lead youth through the SOYL Program
  • Facilitate workshops for SOYL youth on topics including leadership skills, food systems, Indigenous food sovereignty, customer service, and allyship and oppression
  • Work collaboratively with the Director of Farm and Operations to engage youth in work on the farm
  • Provide youth weekly feedback to support their learning and development in SOYL
  • Adapt the daily plan to account for unforeseen circumstances
• Documenting the SOYL program through photos, videos, etc.
• Follow all policies and procedures to ensure participant and staff health and safety
• Ensure youth safety while in SOYL
  • This includes on off-site field trips
• Reflect on the SOYL Program and how it can be improved in future
• Support the Fresh Roots team inter-departmentally on organization-wide projects

Qualifications 

• Post-secondary work or degree (or equivalent experience) in teaching, social work, farming/food systems, environmental education, or related fields
• Knowledge or interest in land and food systems, agriculture, Indigenous food sovereignty, or related fields
• Experience working with youth grades 8-12 as a tutor, teacher,  camp counsellor, or similar position
  • Experience working with youth from diverse backgrounds and complex learning and life challenges is strongly preferred
• Experience in farming, gardening, outdoor leadership and/or facilitation
• Able to work with a team and independently
• Strong organizational capacity & with good attention to detail; able to prioritize and balance many different tasks
• Experienced in event planning and managing complex logistics
• Outgoing, energetic, responsible, and mature
• The ability to speak multiple languages is a plus. Languages frequently spoken in our communities include Cantonese, Mandarin, Spanish, Tagalog, Punjabi, Farsi, French, Arabic, and Ukrainian
• Willingness and excitement to work outdoors in ALL weather conditions for up to 8 hours a day, rain or shine!
• Able to follow and establish policies and procedures to ensure youth and staff health and safety.
• Able to carry out a variety of physical tasks that involve bending, squatting, lifting up to 50 lb, and repetitive motion
• Current First Aid and CPR will be required before the position starts.
• Driver’s license, with access to a personal vehicle an asset 
• Must pass a criminal record check to be able to work with children and vulnerable populations
• Must meet Canada Summer Jobs Requirements; Minimum age 20

Compensation Package 

Pay:  $19.50-$21.50 DOE plus 4% in lieu of vacation

Paid Sick Leave

On-the-job training and professional development workshops

30% discount on produce and access to free culls

About SOYL

The SOYL (Sustainable Opportunities for Youth Leadership) program engages ~45 high school youth each summer at two Lower Mainland locations: Vancouver & Coquitlam. The program focuses on collaborative work, practical skills, food-systems thinking, and social-emotional development. SOYL runs for six weeks (July 7th-August 13th) during the summer at two locations: Coquitlam & Vancouver. Each SOYL location is situated on a Fresh Roots schoolyard farm, with two SOYL facilitators at each location, who work collaboratively on each site with the Youth on the Farm Program Lead (YotFPL), Youth on the Farm Program Coordinator (YotFPC) Farm Director to lead youth. Youth receive a stipend for participation, which includes work on the farm and at markets, preparing food for shared meals, and engagement in workshops, field trips and activities. If you want to know more about SOYL, please look at freshroots.ca/soyl.

About Fresh Roots

Our vision is sustainable and equitable food systems which support human growth and connection.

To achieve that, we cultivate educational farms and place-based programs where youth develop healthy relationships with food, land and community through growing and sharing food that nourishes themselves, their communities and the planet! Visit freshroots.ca to learn more!