Children’s Garden Education Fellowship
Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s Children’s Garden Education Fellowship program prepares aspiring environmental educators for positions in the field, both at BBG and beyond.
Education Fellows spend the growing season in BBG’s Children’s Garden, teaching young people to grow, harvest, and cook their own food, care for the environment, and explore the natural world.
BBG hires seven fellows each year. Applications open on Thursday, December 26, 2024.
Fellowship Details
Fellows teach age-appropriate gardening lessons to a group of up to 12 children with the assistance of two to three teen apprentices from our Garden Apprentice Program. Fellows are responsible for caring for their garden beds and designing hands-on garden-based lessons for children ages 4 through 13. Fellows also teach up to eight family programs, guiding children and their families at hands-on stations in the Children’s Garden.
The comprehensive paid training program covers food gardening, seasonal themes, best practices for outdoor education, and horticulture skills. Training topics include garden bed maintenance, child development and behavioral differences, universal design for learning, mentorship training, botany, and more.
The 2025 program runs March 14–November 1, 2025. Commitment is 10 hours per week during spring and fall on Fridays and Saturdays, and 30 hours per week in the summer, Tuesday through Friday.
- March–May; September–October: Fridays 2–6 p.m., Saturdays 9:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m.
- June: Tuesday–Friday, 9 a.m.–4 p.m.
- July–mid August: Tuesday–Friday, 8 a.m.–4 p.m.
There are some holidays and days between seasons with no scheduled shifts. Please see the 2025 application for the complete schedule.
We look for candidates who have some experience with either children or gardening and who hope to pursue a career in horticulture or informal science education. Candidates must be comfortable working outdoors and performing manual labor in various weather conditions.
Applications for the 2025 fellowship will open on Thursday, December 26, 2024. See the application for dates for phone screenings and interviews. Decisions are made on a rolling basis through the end of February. The position pays $22 per hour.
Please email us at [email protected] with any questions about the program or application process.
What Past Fellows Have to Say
Program alumni have pursued careers as school garden teachers, environmental education coordinators, horticulturists, and more at institutions such as the American Museum of Natural History, Edible Schoolyard NYC, Van Cortlandt Park Alliance, Wave Hill, and STEM From Dance.
“I learned some great skills around education, behavioral management, and teamwork that I will hold to. I think this fellowship also made me a much stronger gardener and fueled my interest in the environment by giving me a strong network of peers who are equally excited by the study of ecology and agriculture.”
“I loved seeing kids be excited about gardening and nature! It was so fun and sweet to share my joy about gardening with them and to see how excited they were about it too. I also appreciated the combination of structure and abundant existing lesson plans and activities we could choose from, combined with lots of freedom to try new things.”
“I loved the kids I worked with and the age-group, the gardening, my wonderful colleagues, and overall, I felt super supported and appreciated as an employee.”
