Location & Dates: Amir Farmers work for 10-12 weeks (June-August) with one of Amir’s camp partners across North America. Farmers will be expected to reside full-time at the summer camp which employs them. Amir Farmers will also be expected to join the Amir Seminar at a location TBD from May 28th – June 2nd.

Compensation: Amir Farmers are employees of the summer camp and subject to the pay scale as set by the camp. Compensation typically ranges from $2,000 – $3,500 for the summer (based on experience and the camp’s financial resources) with room, board, and all travel (to / from camp and the Seminar) covered.

Job Description: Amir Farmers lead impactful Jewish farm, environmental, and food education programming as an employee of one of Amir’s partner summer camps. Our Farmers have a range of farming and experiential education experience – for some this is their first experience with Jewish farming while for others this is a continuation of many years in this work. Our organization seeks to bring authentic, land-based Jewish experiences to children and young adults across North America. To that end, Farmers are either experienced in or eager to step into the role of Jewish farm educator.

Amir Farmers will develop their food growing and experiential education skills while building the Amir community amongst their peers at the annual Training Seminar in late May / early June. At this training, Farmers will learn all aspects of building a camp garden / farm, as well as how to use Amir’s Sourcebook to run programming for campers of all ages. They will also gain practical tools for engaging with campers effectively and intentionally. Farmers are hired as an employee of one of Amir’s partner camps, so the job will look slightly different depending on which camp the Farmer is placed with. Amir works with the applicant and its partner camps to identify a good match based on a variety of factors.

A note on religious practice: Amir is not affiliated with any denomination of Judaism, and works with camps across a wide spectrum of Jewish religious observance. Similarly, our Farmers come from a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences with Jewish life and Jewish farming. Amir seeks individuals who are comfortable serving in a role as a Jewish educator, defined to incorporate a broad spectrum of practice, and will seek to match the Farmer with a camp that allows them to embody that role in the way they feel most comfortable.

• Primary Responsibilities:
• Cultivate gardens with participating campers
• Lead garden-based activities and educational programs for campers of all ages
• Daily garden maintenance and care
• Participate in weekly oversight meetings with Amir Mentors
• Act as an enthusiastic and active member of the camp community
• Help campers (and staff) explore a land-based Judaism

Like all other staff at camp, you will have additional responsibilities beyond your job title as the farm educator. This could include being with campers in the mornings / evenings and at meals or assisting with programming outside the garden. We will work with you and camp leadership to ensure that your job description from camp is as clear as possible, and that expectations are managed so that you can be most successful this summer.

Mental, Physical, and Emotional Ability: We encourage people of all abilities to apply. We recognize that many farm education jobs list a variety of physical requirements which we do not believe are necessary to be successful in this position. Please reach out if you have any questions and we would be happy to discuss any concerns you may have.

• Bend, squat, dig and work with manual farming tools*
• Work and / or run programming outside for 6-8 hours per day in the heat / all summer weather
• You may be with campers for a total of 14 hours a day, if you are expected to eat breakfast with a cabin and remain with the campers until bedtime
• Engage in detail-oriented work with a careful eye
• Teach groups of 10-20 children and facilitate their experience working in the garden
• Live full time at a summer camp, and navigate the social and emotional aspects of living at work
• Remain resilient through hiccups and mishaps in farming
• Ask for supplies and support when you need them

*While establishment and maintenance of the garden / farm generally requires these abilities, we welcome any adapted gardening practices. The Amir Farmer works in a camp community – they do not necessarily need to be lifting 50 pound bags of grain or broadforking the whole garden by themselves. We will try to match Farmers to gardens / farms / camps that work for their bodies.

Deadlines: The deadline for applications is rolling until the end of April, or until all spots are filled.

COVID-19:  The American Camp Association developed detailed safety procedures these past few years, as have each of our individual camps. We expect that Farmers (and all camp staff / eligible campers) will be required to be vaccinated and boosted – please reach out if you have a specific medical exemption. Farmers will be subject to any additional COVID-19 protocols as set forth by their camp employer, which will likely include testing prior to arrivals.  We will share our COVID-19 protocols for the Training Seminar well in advance, and expect to similarly require vaccination and a negative PCR test prior to arrival. Amir and its partner camps will of course be updating protocols as is appropriate, and are happy to work with you to ensure that you feel safe in working at camp / attending the Training Seminar this summer.

Diversity and Inclusion:  Amir is actively seeking to build an organization that provides opportunities to marginalized groups in Jewish institutions. As such, we strongly encourage Jews of Color, Sephardim, Mizrahim, Indigenous, and LGBTQIA+ folks to apply. We work directly with the leadership of our camp partners to ensure that the spaces our Farmers enter are welcoming, safe, and caring environments for all members of the community. Our team is here to support Farmers throughout the summer, and seeks to proactively provide Farmers with the information they need to determine if the partner camp is a good fit for them.