This position is a one-year AmeriCorps VISTA position, lasting from October 23, 2023-October 21, 2024.

Program Benefits:

• Relocation Allowance if eligible
• Childcare assistance if eligible
• Living Allowance
• Choice of Education Award ($6,895) or End of Service Stipend
• Training
• Public Land Corps Federal Hiring Authority
• PTO, Sick days, and Holidays

Job Description:

A world of learning begins as young people engage in meaningful park activities, discover their natural, cultural and historical heritage, enjoy recreational opportunities, and, most importantly, begin a lifelong relationship with national parks. NPF continues to value these aspects of Gateway National Recreation Area and has renewed the grant for the 2022-2023 school year. VISTA will work to achieve its education mission by empowering partners deliver exceptional curriculum-based science programming and ensuring the long-term sustainability of the program by forming strong partnerships with the NYC Department of Education, schools, principals, and teachers. The goal is to continue these efforts in an online and virtual platform as we meet the needs of educators, parents, and students in a COVID-19 new-normal.

Duties Include: 

• Act as liaison between park & partners in the collaborative.
• Work with new partners in development of curriculum and coordination of programming.
• Coordinate professional development opportunities for partners & park staff.
• Improve general education team programming through presentations, photography, etc.
• Establish partnership with New York City & New Jersey schools & teachers
• Develop & improve professional development opportunity for teachers.
• Develop education marketing plan for Gateway Education Partnership Collaborative.
• Develop education team newsletter quarterly
• Create processes to recruit, hire, and train education interns through NYC Department of Youth and Community.
• Development & Student Conservation Association: Create position description for Education Volunteer position, & recruit, hire & train volunteers in this position.

Required Skills:

• Ability to Work Efficiently Independently and on a Team
• Strong Communicator with Public Speaking Skills
• Writing and Editing Skills
• Strong drive to make and see change in your community!
• Must be able to pass federal background check*

Preferred Skills:

• Community Organization
• Leadership
• Recruitment

Preferred Education:

• Higher Education Experience

Preferred Experience:

• Grant Writing
• Youth Development
• Teaching/Education

About Gateway National Recreation Area:

Gateway National Recreation Area was established in 1972 with the dream of bringing a National Park Service experience to the New York and northeastern New Jersey metropolitan area. Healthy parks lead to healthier communities & nearly 40 years of research evidence shows access to nearby nature including parks, gardens, the urban forest and green spaces - directly contributes to economic growth and development, increased public health, lower crime rates, and improved social capital.

In 2018-2019, Gateway was approached by the National Park Foundation (NPF) with an opportunity to improve access for 4th grade students to urban parkland in the New York-New Jersey metropolitan area. The goal of the NPF Open Outdoors for Kids Focus City Grant Program is to provide pathways for kids to enjoy, understand and connect with nature in exciting ways by facilitating outdoor activity, experiential learning, and cultural heritage exercises. Gateway was awarded a generous three-year grant to support the development of a partner consortium, develop and enhance programming and provide transportation for 4th grade students & their teachers in visiting our national park and other public lands.

About Conservation Legacy:

Conservation Legacy began with the belief that everyone in our communities can add value and enrich the lives of all who live there. This belief is captured in our mission: Fostering conservation service in support of communities and ecosystems. This mission is inspired by a shared vision of a legacy of healthy lands, air, and water, thriving people, and resilient communities. Our history is rooted in central Appalachia, where the first AmeriCorps VISTAs began service over fifty years ago. WVs outdoor recreation, tourism, and energy-producing industries are collectively tied to the State's iconic mountain topography. WV boasts 120 miles of whitewater, 3,000 climbing locations and an abundance of trails. Parks and public outdoor public recreation are integral parts of the state's leisure and hospitality industry, which is growing in the state. Income growth and visitors have steadily increased for the last several years, although salary growth falls behind that of the state's other economic sectors. West Virginia requires extensive capabilities and resources to improve public land and conservation practices and Conservation Legacy through Stewards is poised to assist in those capabilities. The WV READY VISTA will provide the needed capacity through grant writing and partnership development to support the placement of WV READY fellows in counties seeking a pathway to transition from a resource extraction industry to one that is preserving natural resources and developing a solid outdoor recreation tourism project. The WV READY VISTA will also develop a conservation camp /high school program that provides students with an introduction into careers in conservation and community service, the creation of project plans, and curriculum WV READY Fellows for their implementation. Additionally finding resources and projects to host Youth Conservation Corps throughout WV.

For more information regarding Stewards, please visit our website.