Farm Teacher

Bring the Farm to You; North Olmsted (OH); On-site; USD 23,000 - 29,000; Part time

Job summary

Bring the Farm to You, based in central Ohio, seeks a dynamic teacher with a love for animals and interaction. This part-time role offers a flexible schedule teaching audiences from schools to libraries and events across the region.

You may start as an Assistant and progress to Lead with built-in training, handling animals, presenting engaging curriculums, and representing the company at various venues with energy and care.

Qualifications

• Experience teaching children or groups in informal settings.
• Comfort with presenting information to diverse audiences.
• Ability to engage participants and adapt to different ages.

Responsibilities

• Teach in informal programs with friendly conversations and questions.
• Lead or assist in formal presentations with visual aids and live animals.
• Hold animals during demonstrations and guide children in observing techniques.
• Be a positive representative for Bring the Farm to You at client sites.
• Set up program materials and equipment at the client location and clean up afterward.
• Travel to program locations and coordinate with Lead or Assistant teachers as assigned.

Skills

Teaching experience

Public speaking

Animal handling

Reliable

Driving

Job description

Bring the Farm to You is looking to hire a dynamic teacher with a flexible schedule who loves interacting with animals and people.

About the position:

Bring the Farm to You® teachers share curriculum around central Ohio, exciting audiences with animal and farm experiences. We offer 13 different programs, including live Farm Animal Events, formal Mini Farm programs, Apple Cidering and Chick Hatching presentations, our Child’s Homestead® program, and more. This is a unique, fun, and rewarding position and an opportunity to serve our central Ohio community. Clients include school systems, libraries, parks, cities, assisted living centers, childcare centers, camps, churches, and public and private events. We share over 450 programs per year serving over 70,000 people annually! Bring the Farm to You has a reputation as a quality, professional organization that our clients are proud to have representing their schools and organizations, and that you would be proud to work for.

Bring the Farm to You teachers work in the role of either “Assistant” or “Lead” on a given day. All teachers begin as assistants and may work their way up to leading based on their confidence with the animals and curriculum. (We are currently hiring an Assistant who has the skills and interest in working their way into a Lead role.)

The responsibilities of our teachers include:

• In informal programs, like our Farm Animal Events, this means teaching our visitors casually through conversations, sharing interesting information, and answering their questions.
• In formal programs, a Lead Teacher is at the front of an audience, sharing a presentation with exciting visual aids and/or live animals.
• In many programs, teaching involves holding animals while talking about them and helping children use their senses to observe and touch the animals in a respectful way.
• Being a positive company representative for our clients and a friendly facilitator for our audiences. Positive energy and a helpful attitude are really important to us.
• Setting up our program at the client’s location: unloading and carrying equipment, leading animals, and cleaning up afterwards.
• Arriving at the program location.
  • If you’re the Lead Teacher for the program, you’d come to the farm and drive the Bring the Farm to You vehicle to the program location, along with the animals and equipment.
  • If you’re the Assistant Teacher for the program, you’d meet the Lead at the program location.

Essential traits in all our teachers:

• Always reliable and on-time. Teachers are responsible for the program starting at designated times with expectant audiences.
• Teaching experience, confidence in front of a group, and the ability to share information at different levels depending on the audience you’re teaching.
  • Lead Teachers need to have dynamic speaking skills and the ability to hold the attention of various ages of groups and alter the pace or depth of the topic based on the individuals present.
• Physically able to lift 30lbs, carry equipment and cages on uneven ground, able to work at a lively pace in Ohio weather, and a willingness to work as a team to collectively get the job done.
• Confident holding and working with animals (after training), including holding chicks, adult hens and roosters, ducks, and rabbits, moving pigs, and walking sheep and goats on leashes.
• Personable, friendly, and a positive representative of our programs and company. Willing to initiate conversations with participants, sharing information about Bring the Farm to You programs.
• A reliable vehicle, a good driving record, and a phone with navigation and a calendar app.
• Timely communication with office staff to keep the back-end of the business running smoothly.

Working as a Bring the Farm to You teacher is a fun and rewarding way to inspire, excite, and educate people of all ages and backgrounds. The work is varied – some days we’re teaching inner city kids who have never seen farm animals before. Other days, we’re helping elders at a senior facility spark their memories with a farm program. We could be teaching 3rd graders how to hatch chicks in their classroom. Or we may be delivering the best birthday ever to a child. The experiences are deeply rewarding.

Our schedule varies with the season and by the program schedule. Unfortunately, that does mean there is some variability in the consistency of work during our slow season, November-February. (Our teachers often fill that space with another part-time job, or substitute teaching through various school systems.) This is a great long-term position for someone who wants a rewarding and flexible part-time job working with people and animals while serving an important need in our central Ohio community. The pay rate starts at $17/hour. Lead Teacher pay starts at $20/hour.