Edible Schoolyard Program

Edible Schoolyard / CSA Farm School Project
Preliminary Management Structure
This purpose of this document is to outline CRMPI’s role in construction, infrastructure and consulting for the school projects. The Roaring Fork High school project has been approved by the school board and will begin infrastructure and greenhouse building over the summer of 2009. Division of labor and job assignments is where our focus lies right now so that we may begin this project in an orderly and timely fashion. We welcome input and feedback from all the other involved parties in this process.
CRMPI’s Role: CRMPI is a 501(c)3 that will umbrella the school projects and provide staff and support to develop and oversee Edible Schoolyard and CSA Farm school projects. Students for the CSA Farm school will be recruited through CRMPI’s website and advertising as well as through postings on other sites such as ATTRA.gov.
EDIBLE SCHOOLYARD – Operated during the 9 month regular school year
The Edible Schoolyard project will be managed and maintained by hired staff members once the construction of the greenhouse and gardens and infrastructure are complete. There will be 2 part to full time positions required for this purpose.
• An Edible schoolyard coordinator – will work with teachers from RFHS and visiting schools to schedule class times and activities. This person will be in charge of the educational component of the Edible Schoolyard and will act as a liaison between the school and CRMPI. 9 months per year
• A Garden Manager – a person with gardening abilities and training to coordinate all the growing related tasks of the garden and greenhouse. This person will be in charge of planting and harvesting schedules, greenhouse and irrigation maintenance and composting. An experienced gardener is needed for this scale of a project. The gardener may be called upon at times to give advice or help with student planting projects. 9 or 12 months TBD
CSA FARM SCHOOL – Operated for 5 months including summer break
The CSA Farm School will continue to be operated by CRMPI and instructors will be hired to operate the program and manage the CSA with the students. Outside instructors, who have CSA operational experience, may be contracted to teach and the students will visit larger farms to learn larger scale farming techniques. The CSA Farm School will operate on tuition, CSA membership proceeds, donations and grants. We see the need for 1 full time Instuctor/Manager initially and depending on class size, a second staff member may be required. Class size will be capped at 20 students to guarantee a quality instruction for all students.
• CSA Farm School Instructor / Manager – this position will require some prior CSA knowledge and experience. This person will make lesson plans based on curriculum written for this program and work directly with students in hands-on application of the course materials. This person will be in charge of handling CSA tuition and membership monies and budgeting expenses for operating costs. 5 Days per week (flexible) 5 months per year with some possible overlap time
CRMPI Project Team – Initial phases:
Jerome Osentowski
Infrastructure development, Consulting, staff recruitment, training staff
Brian Blount
Infrastructure development, research & writing (grants, curriculum), graphic design for printed materials and websites, labor
Illene Pevec
Program advisor, Grant writing, volunteer coordinator, curriculum building
Recruited volunteer labor and hired contractors:
Many tasks will require volunteer labor and some will require the hiring or in-kind donation of experienced tradesmen:
Irrigation, Greenhouse construction, Fence building , Security system, Electrical, Excavation for greenhouse, Concrete?, Compost bins
Compensation for CRMPI team:
Community support for this project will be crucial to its long-term success. CRMPI will provide the technical support for the project based on the experience of Jerome and his staff of gardening and CSA operation in this climate zone.
Actual time is hard to estimate until the project gets started, so this pay scale is to help structure a preliminary budget. We are basing the initial project time at 30 hours per week, but actual time may greatly exceed that. CRMPI will be assigning students from the Permaculture design courses individual components of the school design to help cut design and consulting fees. We will find volunteer labor and licensed professional who are willing to donate their time as in-kind donations whenever possible.
Jerome Osentowski:
Consulting: $100 per hour ($50 billed, $50 in-kind donation)Includes design and layout work for greenhouse and gardens during the design and construction phases
Oversight/Management: $35 per hourGeneral project management time where Jerome is on site or doing project related work (hiring employees, reading proposals, etc.)
Teaching/Training: $75 per hour ($50 billed, $25 in-kind donation)Time for training employees, teaching classes
Initial retainer fee:
Brian Blount:
Graphic Design: $35 per hour ($25 billed, $10 in-kind donation)Includes design for printed materials, advertising and website design
Grant / Curriculum - Research & Writing: $40 per hour ($20 billed. $20 in-kind donation)Research for available Grants for both projects, grant writing and compiling curriculum
General Time: $15 per hour Construction, labor