2010 Yestermorrow Kitchen/Garden Intern
Applicant Information

This information will provide you with details about the Yestermorrow Design/Build School and how our Kitchen/Garden Internship Program operates. Please read through the information thoroughly before applying, and feel free to contact us with any questions you may have about the position. Questions should be directed to Kate Stephenson, Executive Director: kate@yestermorrow.org or at 802-496-5545.

In this document you will find information on:

• Yestermorrow Mission Statement and Overview
• Kitchen/Garden Internship Overview
• 2010 Internship Program Session Schedule
• Work and the Work Schedule
• Costs, Safety, Activities and a Typical Weekly Schedule
• Community Life, Communication, Recreation, and Travel
• Our Expectations of Interns and What We Look for in an Applicant
• Directions for Applying

Yestermorrow Mission Statement and Overview
Yestermorrow Design/Build School inspires people to create a better, more sustainable world by providing hands-on education that integrates design and craft as a creative, interactive process. Located in the heart of the Green Mountains, Yestermorrow has been teaching professionals and homeowners since 1980.

Yestermorrow is the only school in the nation to offer a curriculum that integrates design education with hands-on building experience. Yestermorrow offers workshops and courses for novices and enthusiasts as well as a professional curriculum for students, architects and builders. Ranging from furniture making to home designing and building, Yestermorrow courses emphasize a holistic, informed, and ecologically sensitive approach to design and the use of materials.

More than 120 talented instructors arrive from across the country each year to share their knowledge and empower students of all ages to discover, shape and build their physical environment. By demystifying the complexities of the building process, faculty and staff guide each student to explore his or her individual voice, while offering valuable skills and techniques for understanding and building their designs within a larger context. The collective vision offered by the members of the Yestermorrow School supports collaborative participation and shared learning as essential components of an integrated curriculum.

The Campus

Yestermorrow is based on a 38-acre campus in Warren , Vermont on the site of the former Alpen Inn. In the early 1990s the property was purchased to provide a permanent home for the School, and the main building houses administrative offices, a large studio, library, woodshop, conference room, small studio, kitchen and student lounge, and dormitory with 5 rooms. In addition, students, instructors, interns and staff have built three cabins, a treehouse, composting toilet, solar shower, earthen oven, tent platforms, an outdoor classroom area, and more. The property also includes the "Chalet", a small house where the interns live together. For more campus details, visit the photo gallery on our website at: www.yestermorrow.org/gallery/picasacampus.htm

Yestermorrow is located in a fairly rural area in the heart of the Mad River Valley of central Vermont. The area is known for its scenic landscape and multitude of recreational opportunities (skiing, hiking, kayaking, cycling, etc). The campus is halfway between the towns of Waitsfield and Warren (two small towns of approx. 2,000 residents each) on the Route 100 corridor. In nearby Waitsfield (3 mile drive/bike) there are a couple of grocery stores, hardware store, lumberyard, pharmacy, post office, and a variety of boutiques, restaurants, inns and ski shops.

The Yestermorrow Staff

Yestermorrow employs 6 full-time and 4 part-time staff who run the daily operations of the School, which is governed by a Board of Directors which meets 4 times per year. In addition to the Kitchen/Garden Intern, we hire 5 Design/Build Interns at a time (in 6 month sessions).

Internship Program Overview

The 2010 Kitchen/Garden Internship is a year-long position running from early January through mid-December 2010. This allows the intern to experience the full growing season and garden cycle.

The Kitchen/Garden Internship's Mission & Objectives

The Internship Program is dedicated to providing a unique educational experience working and living as part of the Yestermorrow community. The Kitchen/Garden Intern will work under the supervision of our head Cook and provide critical support in growing, preparing and serving food to the Yestermorrow community on a daily basis. Yestermorrow is committed to serving healthy, locally produced meals which enhance the community spirit of the school- around the table is where ideas and values are shared, where friendships blossom, where we laugh, and where we fully integrate our experiences. As our curriculum stresses the concept of sustainability with regard to land use and how we build on the land, through food we can also walk the talk of sustainability by purchasing local, organic, nutritious, and wholesome ingredients.

The Kitchen/Garden Intern provides Yestermorrow with critical support in the day-to-day operation of the School's meal program. They contribute 40-50 hours of manual labor per week in exchange for housing, meals, and a $100/week stipend. The Intern will get 2 days off per week, which may vary according to the schedule.

Work and the Work Schedule

Daily Schedule

Because of the nature of our meal program, which runs 7 days a week and 3 meals a day, we require a great degree of flexibility from the Kitchen/Garden Intern. The Intern works closely with our Cook and other support staff to work out a weekly schedule to cover meal preparation, serving and clean-up. When not engaged directly in kitchen work, the Intern will also serve as the main person responsible for planning our kitchen garden, garden maintenance, and harvesting, with some assistance from other Interns. During the course of the internship session there is two set vacations when meals will not be served (week of July 4 and Thanksgiving week). Extra overtime hours can be accumulated toward comp time, but Interns are not compensated financially for overtime work.

General responsibilities of the intern include, but are not limited to:
. Grow and harvest organic vegetables for use in the meal program

. Plan for future garden expansion and 4-season growing

. Source and pickup local food for the meal program

. Prepare whole foods using local ingredients

. Meal set-up and clean-up

. Maintain our kitchen and garden spaces to be welcoming, efficient, clean and well-prepared for our students and instructors

Much of the work at Yestermorrow is manual labor of some sort. Interns need to be realistic and honest about their ability and willingness to work long hours inside and outside, in all weather conditions and sometimes stressful situations. It is important to come free of recent or recurring physical injuries. Interns also need to come prepared with the right clothing - lots of layers, excellent raingear, and clothing that will hold up to hard physical work - and the right attitude - lots of positive energy, a sense of humor, inner motivation, joy at being outside in the elements. With the right preparation and attitude, the internship provides a rewarding, stimulating, and invigorating experience.

Interns acquire knowledge and practical skills through involvement with the daily operation of Yestermorrow. Instant gratification is not guaranteed, and everything always moves slower than you expect, so you must be realistic about the goals you set for yourself while working here. A willingness to take initiative is imperative - excitement about tackling and solving problems and a commitment to staying positive is a must! Our work can be extremely rewarding, as there are opportunities to learn new skills and interact closely with other interns, students, instructors and staff.

Please note: Unlike our shorter Design/Build Internships, the schedule of the Kitchen/Garden intern does not allow for participation in Yestermorrow classes during the internship. Participation in weekend workshops is possible on a space available basis if coordinated with the schedules of the rest of the kitchen staff.

Safety and Health Concerns at Yestermorrow

Safety is a top concern of ours. The Kitchen/Garden intern will receive an orientation to the facilities and garden tools during their first week at the School. Some Kitchen/Garden Intern work involves a moderate amount of lifting, carrying, bending, and/or shoveling. Interns need to be aware of the physical limits of their own bodies and know to stop work that is too difficult or dangerous before an injury occurs. Your safety is a priority for us. All interns must submit proof of medical insurance before arrival at Yestermorrow. As part of the acceptance process, accepted applicants must also fill out a medical information form and sign a release form, releasing Yestermorrow from any responsibility of injury to an Intern while at Yestermorrow.

Costs

Food and housing is provided along with a $100/week stipend. Aside from the necessary costs such as travel to/from Yestermorrow and health insurance, expenses vary depending on interests and personal choices. Though many interns manage to live quite frugally, it is helpful to have some degree of savings in hand prior to arrival. Some interns manage to locate part-time work on evenings or weekends, although this can be challenging given the changing schedule.

Typical Internship Program Work Week

The following is a typical weekly schedule for the Kitchen/Garden Intern in mid-summer. Please note, however, that work assignments vary dramatically, depending on current projects, weather, and any number of other issues, so this is only an example of how an Intern's workweek might look:

Community Life, Communication, Recreation, Travel

Yestermorrow is a close-knit community. The setting is quite rural, and Interns have limited access to travel except on days off. Interns can expect to share a bedroom, bathroom, shower and kitchen with the other interns. Privacy is most often found by going for walks in the woods or getting away to the river, mountains or elsewhere during time off. Sometimes we spend our time-off together, around a campfire, playing music, or firing up the outdoor oven for a meal, but at other times we are all going our separate ways. Our community thrives when we all practice tolerance and respect, good and clear communication, flexibility and openness. In addition, we all take collective responsibility for the whole - for supporting one another and for respecting the give and take of public/private space and work/leisure time. As a School where some people live and others come and go this is a constant dynamic balance and one which we must take on together. Being a part of our community requires tolerance, patience, respect, and openness to new ideas and perspectives. Acceptance to this program entails a commitment to collective responsibility - going the extra mile to get things done.

Communication

Interns have access to a phone in the Chalet which requires a calling card to make long distance calls. Computer access with a DSL connection as well as wireless internet is available in the main school building at 4 public computer stations. All interns have a mailbox in the main office where they can receive mail and packages.

Travel

Personal transportation is recommended, due to our rural location, but not required. When it is not being used by classes, the Interns have the use of a vehicle (15-passenger van or pick-up truck) for local errands. We also have a number of bikes available for interns to use for on-campus and off-campus trips.

Evaluation procedures

In an effort to facilitate program development, we ask Interns to tell us their expectations for our program at the beginning of each session, and then ask them to evaluate their experience at the end. The staff also meets with each intern about half-way through the session to "check in" and address any concerns and receive feedback.

Our Expectations of Interns & What We Look for in an Applicant

Our Expectations

We ask that Interns be committed to the philosophy of Yestermorrow and willing to learn, through experience and hard work, the processes involved in maintaining a healthy community and school operation. This requires flexibility, creativity, patience, curiosity, and responsibility toward our community on the part of the Intern.

More specifically, our expectations are as follows:

. Interns will commit to the full year-long session and start and finish on the dates agreed upon in their contract with us. Time off is also agreed-upon and any changes to that will be worked out with their supervisor. Interns come to work on time and put in a full day of quality work, on the appointed tasks.

. Will be careful and responsible and vigilant of hazards.

. Will take care of tools and equipment and return everything to the place and in the condition it was taken.

. Will work with others in the community with honesty, integrity, openness and fairness.

. Will not use the property of School for personal reasons or on personal time without permission.

. Will treat everyone who comes to the School with respect and will endeavor to make everyone as welcome and comfortable as possible. Will keep person and property clean and respectable when working with the public at the School.

. Will bring one's personal creativity, hobbies, humor, and sense of fun and adventure to share with all of us.

All Internship participants are expected to commit to the full internship session and are expected to put in a full eight-hour day, every workday, no matter the desirability of the assigned work or group activity. Some jobs are easier, some more difficult, some exciting, some dull, but all the tasks play an important part in the operation of Yestermorrow, and all tasks need to be completed efficiently and correctly to ensure the success of our courses and program. As stated earlier, Yestermorrow is a close-knit community. We expect Interns to actively participate in our community in a positive, productive manner - everyone must pull his or her own weight in order to make Yestermorrow an enjoyable place to live and work. Most of all, we want to have fun!

What We Look for in an Applicant

For the position of Kitchen/Garden Intern we are specifically looking for applicants with experience in gardening, permaculture, and food service. We strongly encourage international students and people of color to apply to our internships. Overall, we look for people with a strong interest in sustainability, community, landbased skills, and working with one's hands.

Qualifications for the position include:

• A passion for food.
• A basic comfort level in the kitchen.
• Some knowledge of gardening, soil-building or agriculture .
• Learning objectives that coincide with the school's mission.
• Ability to have fun and remain flexible while maintaining organization and attention to detail.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Willingness to learn, try new things, and work hard.
• A positive flexible attitude, ability to work independently and with others.

We work hard here at Yestermorrow, but we also like to have fun. We look for adventurous people who can balance work and play, are very flexible and have positive attitudes about life and work, and can enjoy life in a rural setting. Please let us know why you think you would be a good addition to our community.

Directions for Applying

If, after a thorough review of this information, you are interested in applying to the Yestermorrow Internship Program, please fill out an application and return it to us by e-mail. Simply download the form (MS Word) from our website, open the application using Microsoft Word, answer the questions within the application, attach the completed application to a new e-mail, and send it back, along with an attached resume. Applications will also be accepted via US mail.

We STRONGLY encourage all applicants to visit the School if possible when applying. We want you to have a good understanding of the School and the living situation and it is much easier for us to get to know you in person rather than on paper and over the phone.

We receive applications from many qualified people, so please be aware that acceptance to the program is highly competitive. We ask that you take the time to think about your responses to our questions, and provide sincere and candid answers that will enable us to understand why you are interested in the Internship Program and what qualities you feel you can contribute to our community here at Yestermorrow. It is essential that you have read the applicant information carefully so as to develop a clear expectation of what this experience entails. Working at Yestermorrow is a rewarding experience that can provide knowledge that will be useful for a lifetime, and a tremendous satisfaction comes from acquiring new skills and working with others to achieve common goals, while strengthening our connection with the environment and another culture.

Application deadline for the 2010 Session: October 1, 2009

Upon receipt of your application, we will review your application, and contact you with any additional questions. Please be aware that our internships are competitive and we only interview top applicants each session. You will hear from us either way about the status of your application by the enf of October. If you are accepted to the Yestermorrow Internship Program, we will send you a packet of information containing a Confirmation and Release form, and Intern Handbook. If we are not able to accept you, we will notify you via email.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact Executive Director Kate Stephenson at kate@yestermorrow.org or 802-496-5545.

Mailing Address:
189 VT Route 100
Warren, VT 05674

www.yestermorrow.org