Come farm with us!

Located in Lake Placid, NY, North Country School is a junior boarding and day school for students in grades 4-9. The school educates and nurtures children today in such a way that they develop the resourcefulness and skills they need for tomorrow. For over 75 years North Country School has achieved this by placing daily and equal emphasis on arts and outdoor education and by upholding values, such as our commitment to the environment and the importance of working as a community.

Camp Treetops is an overnight summer camp for children ages 8-14 years old, which nurtures an inclusive community with an emphasis on values that remain vital to this day - child-centered education, the fostering of self-reliance and self-confidence, living in harmony with nature, and preserving a child's world through a summer unplugged.

We're seeking 2 year-round farm interns for the 2023-2024 season from June-June.

Job Description

Year-round farm interns will take part in all aspects of the farm; both in the gardens and at the barn.

In the gardens you will be a part of everything from seeding, to transplanting, to tractor work, to harvest and working with our farm to table kitchen. During the internship, you will help manage our rotating drum compost facility along with our garden manager. You will spend a lot of time preparing fields and planting, as well as working to tend tomatoes in our 100 ft greenhouse. During the months of May-October the focus will be on the production gardens and perennial gardens. In the winter and spring, we will create a crop plan, take classes to further our farming knowledge, and prepare for and lead the community in maple sugaring in our 11-acre sugar bush. We typically grow over 30 varieties of annual flowers, and over 25 different annual vegetables and herbs.

You will also work year-round at our barn caring for and learning about chickens, turkeys, sheep, goats, pigs, and horses. We harvest our birds on site with the help of a caring community of adults and children. You will help campers and students with daily barn chores to care for the wellbeing of our animals year-round. On weekends during the school year, you will be in charge of all animal chores twice daily.

During the camp season from June through August you will help lead twice daily chores at the barn, in the pasture, compost, and gardens on a weekly rotation - experiencing each area of the farm with campers and counselors. Each week, you will offer 1–2-hour long activities with campers in the camp you are working in (Junior 8-11 or Senior 12-14). These activities are focused on farming and the natural environment here in the Adirondacks. These activities are whimsical and based on your personal interests and connecting the farm to our campers’ experience.  You will participate in and help lead weekly community mornings during the summer in each camp, where a large farm related job takes place. You will also help cook a lunch on Sundays for the campers on garden harvest that week. Again, the creativity is up to you!

Each week during the school year from September through May you will support an Edible Schoolyard (ESY) class. Here, you will be able to share connections from our farm to the classroom. There are often times to incorporate the farm into other core classes throughout the year. Each week you will offer (2) “out times” per week. These are outside and active activities at the end of the school day that bring students to the farm and the outdoors. The farm works together to head tables at breakfast and lunch. The school year is a balance between working on the farm and supporting the school program. Your day will be a mix of both farm work and working within the school community. Weekend programming is a space to be creative with a group of students. These could include working at the barn part of the day and cooking lunch, going to see a play, or going for a cross country ski. The possibilities are endless and up to your interests and the interests of the students. Being a part of the school community includes going to things such as town meetings, faculty meetings, home nights, and all school events where we can come together and share our work with one another.

 We take pride in being well organized, and maintaining beauty in the fields and the quality of what we produce and grow.

Desired Skills and Qualifications

• A strong work ethic and timeliness with an eye for detail and efficiency.
• Upbeat, able to find joy in simple moments, willingness to laugh and have fun. We work closely together and camaraderie is part of the joy of farm work. Communication is vital for understanding instructions and maintaining a comfortable work environment.
• Proactive and forward thinking, both in daily farm tasks and your own education. Even if there is no explicit instruction happening, there are always opportunities to learn.
• Able to perform physical labor. There are often long days spent doing physical work in a range of weather. Must be willing to work long days, sometimes long nights to provide direct care for our farm.
• Year-round farm interns must be able to lift 50 lbs., kneel for long periods, and be comfortable with repetitive tasks.
• Night and weekend work
• Willingness to learn how to operate farm equipment
• A driver's license and clean driving record.
• Must be 21 years old or older in order to operate equipment
• Prior farming experience is a plus but not necessary. You will learn as you go as our campers and students do in our hands-on experiential learning model.

Compensation

Year-round interns receive a monthly stipend, housing, all regular meals and paid time off.  Additionally, year-round interns can elect to sign up for health insurance.

Ultimately, this year-round farm internship can be your stepping stone. This is a great opportunity to learn more about growing food for your community and farm education. We’d like to be your guides in that journey!

Erica to add details

Added some paragraphs above from the job description we wrote up and has a lot more detail in it. We wanted to keep this short, and enticing! I'll share the descriptions now so you can see them. The plan was to share this with folks once they have applied/interviewed/shown interest in the job.