Rutgers' Department of Family and Community Health Sciences is currently looking to hire AmeriCorps Members to serve in schools full-time to implement climate change education and programming.
Activities performed by the AmeriCorps members will include:
Teaching lessons on climate change and food waste to fifth grade classes
Training school food service personnel in strategies to reduce food waste in cafeterias
Conducting food waste assessments in school cafeterias to measure how much food is wasted
Applicants need not have a background in any specific topic area. They need only be passionate about youth, food security, and/or climate change education, be reliable and responsible, and have reliable transportation to get to the schools where they will be teaching. They will be trained to implement all required activities, including teaching lessons, performing food waste audits, and training staff by the faculty and staff overseeing this program.
Requirements:
Be at least 18 years of age
No criminal history
Have completed at least 60 college credits
Be a US citizen or legal permanent resident
Benefits for AmeriCorps Members:
Living allowance
Education Award upon successful completion of the program (can be used to pay tuition or student loans)
Ability to put student loans into forbearance while serving with AmeriCorps (with no interest accrual)
Professional, networking, and leadership development opportunities
Experience teaching in public schools
Background on NJ Climate Change Corps
The Rutgers Food Waste Team has been successfully partnering with schools since 2018 to implement strategies in schools that reduce the amount of food waste generated by cafeterias.
New Jersey became the first state in the nation to mandate climate change education for K-12 public schools and will implement that mandate this year. In response, Rutgers Food Waste Team has developed curricula for fifth grades students that address food waste and its effects on climate change. Food waste reduction practices are framed as a solution to climate change in the unit.
The goals of Climate Change Corps will be to improve school administrations' and fifth grade students' knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors, toward adapting food waste reduction practices, and, ultimately, to reduce the amount of food waste produced by the schools in which they work.