We’ve put together a general intern position for this year. There is a heavy emphasis on organic gardening and food production, as well as general work. Details below.
Positions Available: There is one position left for 2008.
About: Interns will live on site or nearby, and will have several duties including gardening, shooting video, and marketing. They’ll participate in all of our courses, keep our camp organized, and use permaculture and organic gardening techniques to grow a lot of food on a small piece of ground. They’ll learn to market and run a small business, write effective press releases, shoot professional video, cast a fly, and identify the plants of northeastern North America.
Prerequisites: To be an intern you must have taken a course from us. We want to know something about you that we can’t learn from reading an application, and face to face contact is the best way that we know of.
Duties: Farming/Gardening, Marketing, Videography, General Camp Work.
Duration: Last week in March through first week in November
Costs, Stipend, and Compensation: Interns receive room and some board, but for the first three months pays a monthly fee. The last three months the monthly fee is returned as a stipend. The tuition cost is zero if you stay the entire season.
- April, May, June = Pay Tuition of $1000/month
- July = No Tuition
- August, September, October = Receive Stipend of $1000/month
We’re basing this system on old-time farm internships, as described in the book “The New Organic Grower” by Elliot Coleman on page 5:
The student received room and board but was expected to pay the farmer a monthly fee for the first three months. After three months, if the student was a competent worker, the farmer returned that same fee every month as a salary for the second three months. That way, if the student was shiftless and soon departed, the farmer would be paid for his trouble. However, the student who persevered and worked hard would receive six months of thorough training at no cost. Given the price of a college education, the system sounds pretty good.
Particulars: Minimum age requirement (18). There will be a background check before being accepted because you’ll be around families (ours included). We won’t be babysitting you. You’ll need to be able to cook and fend for yourself. You’ll also need to provide your own personal gear, canoe, tent, etc. Our goal is to have a clearly defined business relationship so that there are no grey areas, and as a result no miscommunication.
Desirable Skills: We’re willing to train and work with you on a variety of things. A desirable skill to have is experience editing video with Final Cut Pro. If you’ve never done so we can work with you on this as well, but if there’s a choice between two people and one of them has video editing experience, we’re likely to go with that person. Other valuable skills are farming and gardening experience as well as outdoor and guiding experience.
To Apply: To apply for our intern positions, fill out our course application and attach a resume and essay. Please list any experience and useful skills you have. Mail us this information and we’ll get back to you as soon as we read your application.
