In recent years, Fairchild has developed robust, off-site school programs to prepare local students for careers in plant science. The new BioTech @Richmond Magnet High School includes a specialized botany curriculum and works closely with Fairchild’s award-winning environmental science program, the Fairchild Challenge. Together they bring plant research into classrooms throughout South Florida. The Challenge and BioTECH programs are linked with Fairchild’s major science initiatives, including the Million Orchid Project and the Growing Beyond Earth partnership with NASA.

The Magnet School Program Coordinator oversees all aspects of the BioTECH Magnet School program at Fairchild including: developing and implementing standards based curriculum; creating and coordinating opportunities for students to facilitate public programs at the Garden during weekends and school breaks; offering regular teacher professional development workshops for BioTECH teachers; and coordinating the BioTECH High School Summer Internship program.  
 

POSITION REQUIREMENTS:

• BA in Biology, Environmental Science, Secondary Science Education or related fields; MS Preferred
• College level coursework in botany
• Minimum of three years formal or informal teaching experience
• Experience recruiting and managing volunteers
• Grant writing experience
• Effective communication skills and experience speaking to diverse groups of people
• Team player with a positive, can-do attitude who is flexible, proactive and can anticipate and troubleshoot program details
• Creative, organized, efficient and detail orientated, with a strong work ethic

WORK SCHEDULE:

• Tuesday through Saturday
• 8:00 am – 4:30 pm
• Some Sundays and Mondays as needed

Ongoing Responsibilities:

Curriculum Development and Implementation

• Develop and implement curriculum in partnership with Fairchild’s Education, Conservation and Research departments, M-DCPS, Zoo Miami, and the U.S. Department of Education.
• Create, coordinate and facilitate pertinent field and lab experiences pertaining to Fairchild’s plant collections.
• Implement and facilitate opportunities for students to actively contribute to Fairchild’s on-going reach projects including: The Million Orchid Project and Growing Beyond Earth
• Coordinate and train both teachers and students for on-site conservation research projects at the BioTECH Richmond campus including Fairchild’s Million Orchid Project and its lab

Informal Weekend Programming

• Develop and implement weekend volunteer program for BioTECH student to activity engage Fairchild’s visitors with ongoing research and conservation initiatives
• Work with Fairchild’s Volunteer Services to develop and train Biotech student volunteers.
• Manage student volunteers for Garden-wide special events

Teacher Professional Development

• Schedule, develop and implement teacher professional development workshops as they pertain to Fairchild’s mission and BioTECH’s needs.

Summer HS Internship Program

• Work with The Fairchild Challenge team to develop and implement a summer internship program for students enrolled in the program.

Other tasks as determined by the Director of Education.

This position reports to the Director of Education. Salary is commensurate with experience.