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Education Specialist (Portland)

32 hours/week  
$15.00 hour 
Hourly/Non-Exempt  
Paid Time Off 
Health Premium Reimbursement Plan 
Monthly craft allowance of $25 that expires at the end of each month. 
Reports to: Portland Site Director 

SCRAP is searching for an energetic and outgoing individual to fill the role of Education Specialist. This position is responsible for scheduling and leading SCRAP’s Education Programs, including field trips, teaching reuse in classrooms, workshops, kids’ camps, and community outreach.  

SCRAP’s mission is to inspire creative reuse and environmentally sustainable behavior by providing educational programs and affordable materials to the community. To fulfill our mission, SCRAP operates a donation-based creative reuse store and education programming.  

SCRAP boasts a world-class creative reuse education program for student's Pre-K through 12th grade. By combining environmental education, art and sustainable activities, students have a fully engaging and informative experience. Students, teachers, and parents learn about saving reusable items that would otherwise wind up in the trash or recycling bin.  
 

JOB SUMMARY 

Hours are weekdays during school or store hours and some Saturdays with flexibility. Although the focus of this position is the Education Program, a portion of these hours would be delegated to Reuse/Donations Specialist job duties. The range is somewhere between 20 – 24 hours/week for education programs and coordination, and 12 – 8 hours reuse center, customer service and in-store responsibilities/donations processing duties. These will vary when Camps are in session (when Education is full-time focused on Camps). An increase in hours to 40 hours/week during seasonal camp sessions is typical. This position is responsible for scheduling, promoting and delivering SCRAP Education Programming.  

Duties include but are not limited to:  

• Lead, manage, and teach SCRAP Educational Programs including: Field Trips (at SCRAP), SCRAP at School(s), Teacher Trainings, Camp SCRAP, Birthday Parties, Scouting Outings, and other educational activities in/from the creative reuse center. 
• Manage and coordinate Workshops and Events - Host regular family-friendly craft workshops at SCRAP or other places in the community (Craft workshops, Crafternoons, Craft & Drink, etc).  
• Manage the use of the SCRAP Education Studio for programs, workshops, events, bookings, and store uses. Maintain an organized and ready-to-use studio space. 
• Creating and developing a new or rotating set of lessons and projects both to continually engage return students and to reflect updates in inventory, sustainability best practices, and student aptitude.    
• Administration - Responsible for scheduling programming, invoicing, tracking registration lists, and email correspondence with teachers and parents. 

• Outreach - Promote education program offerings to schools, educators, and the community.  
• Safety - Complete Incident Report per protocol and ensure compliance with safety guidelines for use of education space and all activities for participants and leaders.  
• Reuse Center Duties: provide customer service, retail cashiering, sort/stock/organize sections, assist with promotions, maintain high quality standards for handling materials.  

Requirements 

• One year experience working or volunteering with children  
• Ability to communicate effectively, in an oral and written format  
• Great organizational skills 
• Ability to speak effectively to a large group  
• Positive classroom management skills  

• Art/creative experience with a variety of media  
• Ability to lead art projects with students of varying ability  
• Availability to work additional paid hours for camp during school breaks and summers  
• Availability to work Saturdays as needed for SCRAP parties  
• Demonstrated reliability and dedication in the workplace  

Preferred Qualities/Abilities 

• Current driver's license and a vehicle to aid in transporting education materials to and from schools and other settings. 
• University credits in education, childhood development, school administration, art therapy, or a related field. 
• Lesson planning experience.  
• Bilingual Spanish or Vietnamese  

Working Conditions 

• A high frequency of unassisted heavy lifting (up to 50 lbs. on an occasional basis per shift) 
• Bending, stooping and climbing 
• Standing and walking for extended periods of times 
• Working in hot and cold climates 

Qualities  

• Must have a passion for SCRAP’s mission  
• Must have an understanding of the creative reuse sector  
• Must have a commitment to reuse  
• Must be an exceptional team player who exercises independent judgment and can work independently or with a team  

• Must be highly organized, have exceptional time-management skills and reliable  
• Emotional intelligence  
• Experience creating and maintaining operational manuals  

Expectations of all SCRAP Staff  

• Work as part of a team with other staff, programs, volunteers and Board of Directors to fulfill SCRAP’s mission  
• Communicate effectively and focus on good stakeholder/community relations  
• Stay current with the environmental services community and sources of information and referrals 
• Stay current with developments in recycling and reuse, including legislation and availability of recyclable materials markets  
• Stay current in non-profit best practices  

• With other staff, be an ambassador for SCRAP in the national community