As a Cooler Communities (CC) school liaison and curriculum coordinator you will be the director’s partner in expanding and further developing our program.
The work is ideal for a trained educator who is interested in or even passionate about education on the topics of climate change, energy efficiency and conservation and is comfortable with ongoing innovation while working with very diverse school districts across Massachusetts.
Cooler Communities is a climate education and school grant program now in its fourth year that connects classroom learning to climate solutions across MA communities and empowers young people in making a difference.
The program has three main components making it adaptable to communities as diverse as Springfield or Framingham, and Hatfield:
Students learn and create exhibits about climate solutions, energy efficiency and conservation related topics in the classroom. Whenever possible these projects relate to locally relevant issues or initiatives
Students exhibit their work to families and/or the public at an event
The visitors are asked to pledge climate friendly actions, which are tallied and, whenever possible, followed up on. These might include having a cost-free home energy assessment, starting a composting system, joining a community solar farm, reducing meat consumption etc.; i.e. actions that are appropriate for the specific town and population.
CC is a rigorous program that demands a lot of school districts and participating communities, hence it is important that our liaison recognizes every community’s special strengths and challenges and helps adapt the program accordingly.
Cooler Communities is also beginning to produce and make available free relevant curriculum, currently a book called The Energy Detectives and a project based learning unit on energy efficiency. More curriculum will be developed over the next few years.
Responsibilities:
Offer and explain the CC program to school districts by
- Presenting the program to school leadership and teachers
- Helping districts decide if CC is right for them and in which form
- Developing a local plan and timeline for participation
- Use and adapt our Curriculum Guide to help school districts conduct impactful classroom learning
- Provide in classroom residencies, enrichment programs and/or teacher support, especially for energy efficiency related lessons
- Support the distribution of ‘The Energy Detectives” to appropriate classrooms across the state and beyond
- Provide virtual and/ or in person professional development workshops in participating districts
- Coach participating teachers in successfully running projects in the classroom
- Present to PTAs and/or school boards/ town committees
- Monitor progress of school projects and event planning
- Connect with potential partner organizations
- Work closely with other CC team members on organizing the culminating event to the degree necessary
Candidate qualifications and qualities:
- The ideal candidate has experience working in or with schools
- Experience or strong interest in climate education and related topics
- Strong interest in empowering young people
- Ability to work with flexibility, adapt and be sensitive to a districts’ capacities and limitations while keeping the goal and outcome in mind
- Ability to articulate and communicate very clearly both in spoken word and in writing
- Sensitivity towards and interest in cultural differences in relationship to climate related topics
- Bilingualism is an advantage
- Ability to read and interpret curriculum standards and connect CC projects to them
- Ability to explain to teachers how working with CC meets their curriculum requirements
- Ability to think on your feet and bear uncertainty: coordinating programs and events in a school environment can be stressful
- Our “office” is virtual – you need to reliably self-motivate and self-organize your work
- Ability to travel to Pittsfield and Springfield and to far lesser degree to other districts across the state
- Ability to keep accurate records
- Familiarity with Google office, i.e. docs, sheets and calendar
- Reliability, punctuality, willingness to learn and
- Interest in being part of an open, supportive, and evolving team
Compensation
This position allows for significant growth for the right person.
Pay is $55,000 to 70,000/yr for 30 hrs/ week, depending on qualifications.
You will be hired as a contractor, responsible for your own taxes.
Travel allowance – some travel, especially to Pittsfield and Springfield and to a lesser degree across the state, is necessary.
Hours are flexible, some work on Saturdays or after school during our event season (April through June) will be necessary.
Cooler Communities/ener-G-save is an equal opportunity employer, committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace. We welcome individuals from environmental justice communities to apply.
Application Process: Please include a letter expressing why you are interested in this work and what experiences you have had that qualify you for this position. A current resume with references is also welcome. It does not have to be a formal resume, but do share your education and work experience. All documents should be sent to education@ener-g-save.com. We recognize that any one applicant may not fulfill all requirements, please apply if you feel this position ‘has your name on it.’
About Cooler Communities/ener-G-save: Since 2017, ener-G-save (www.ener-g-save.com) has been assisting residents to take advantage of the Mass Save programs. In 2019, Cooler Communities (www.coolercommunities.org) was added to our work in order to empower young people to make a difference in their communities and to reach parents through their children.
We seek an energetic person to join our team, someone who is both a team-player and also capable of working independently and self-directed. We have a lot to share with the right person, and also welcome your energy, insight, and ideas for our work.
Please e-mail education@ener-G-save.com or call 413-329-3514 and leave a voicemail.