Education Outreach Coordinator

EDUCATION OUTREACH COORDINATOR (FULL TIME, 1-YEAR CONTRACT)

Purpose of the Position

As a team player with initiative, the Community Outreach Coordinator will provide a source of skilled support as The Hangar Flight Museum delivers multi-sensory community outreach projects, educational programming for students, internal events, and facility rentals. This position is five days a week, primarily 9:00am – 4:30pm, but it will include some evening and weekend shifts based upon the museum's bookings and event calendar. This is a one-year contract position, with potential for extension.

A few main types of outreach programming will be completed by this individual: Silver Darts, Sensory Hours, artifact handling boxes during events and school programs, and Fly Babies. Silver Darts will be a two-hour program that draws on the local and community history held outside of our museum and is an opportunity to build upon individual stories. Seniors' education programming encourages lifelong learning and promotes neuroplasticity. Silver Darts will support the health and social needs of older groups, as it has been documented that engaging with concepts of personal history, identity, and creative expression in a communal environment helps with feelings of isolation, memory loss, and a lack of self-expression.

Artifact handling boxes have been developed on themes. You will utilize these at internal events, but they will also be taken on the road to in-school programs, and community events where you will represent the museum.

You will also assist the education team with developing new educational activities for internal events, and assist with planning for new internal events for 2026 including: Helicopter Weekend, Career Days, and a speaker series.

As a member of the education team, you will also learn our field trip programming to assist the team with delivery of hands-on programs for grades 1-6 and artifact handling for grade 10 and 11. Occasional facility rental shifts will also round out this position into full-time hours of 37.5 per week.

Reporting

This position reports directly to the Education Manager. Frequent collaboration will also occur with the Visitor Experience and Operations Director, Volunteer Manager, and Events Manager.

Organization

The Hangar Flight Museum is a museum in northeast Calgary that aims to inspire dreams of flight. The Hangar Flight Museum will be a premiere destination to explore, engage, and experience the transformational power of flight. We are storytellers, stewarding and sharing the aviation history of Calgary and western Canada and its impact on our community. The collection holds rare and historically significant military and civilian aircraft.

Qualified Applicants

The Hangar Flight Museum is seeking qualified applicants with strongly developed public speaking and storytelling skills with experience facilitating learning with seniors and youth. Post-secondary education (with preference given to education, museum studies, psychology, or humanities) is required. A successful candidate will be able to work well independently and have good problem-solving skills, but also be able to work effectively as part of a team. The successful candidate will be a strong communicator both verbally and in written form, and will be ready to learn classroom management skills.

Key Responsibilities

PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT AND RESEARCH:

• Learn the history of aviation in Canada, especially as it pertains to the artifacts in our collection
• Learn tours and public interpretation methods to provide outstanding visitor experiences
• Research, develop, and prepare programs based on the museum themes in ways that assist a vulnerable demographic for whom social interaction and community activities are significantly harder, and who may face isolation and a decline in mental health
• Assess what the public expects from museum programming
• Inspire education staff and volunteers to learn new information and develop new interpretive activities in-keeping with museum themes
• Train volunteers how to effectively provide interpretation with seniors and neurodivergent individuals. (Assist with the recruitment of new volunteers for this programming)
• Develop new program opportunities for internal events

PARTNERSHIP BUILDING AND MARKETING:

• Be featured on our social media channels with interpretive content
• Reach out to established groups to aid in the creation of successful programming experiences, and also to schedule programming
• Establish new connections and partnerships and leverage previous partnerships
• Increase awareness of the new outreach opportunities
• Organize outreach booking forms, and ensure payment is received in a timely manner
• Develop partnerships through the expansion of our internal events such as Helicopter Weekend, Career Days, and a speaker series.

PROGRAM DELIVERY:

• Have a full awareness of safety concerns and risks, following OH&S procedures and policies to ensure visitors and volunteers are in safe places
• Ensure educational supplies are prepared and artifacts are safely handled and protected
• Deliver seniors multi-sensory programming to seniors off-site, including artifact handling, with the goals of supporting the health and social needs of older adults. Seniors will be invited to engage in lectures and continue to work on active movements, such as hand and finger dexterity through the handling collection
• Develop tactile and sensory play opportunities for Fly Babies
• Deliver hands-on educational programming for students on site at the museum
• Deliver artifact handling programming off-site at schools and community events

REPORTING:

• Complete monthly reporting on progress of the community outreach projects, keeping consistent records of the process
• Ensure program participants fill out appropriate surveys to receive useful feedback
• Summarize feedback, and turn it into future success and plans for how to develop the programming further
• Complete required reporting to the funder(s) of this programming initiative
• Create reporting on sustainability of the programming and the future of outreach with The Hangar

VISITOR EXPERIENCE:

• Assist visitors at the admissions desk and gift shop as necessary
• Assist the Event Manager with facility rental setup and event shift coverage as necessary
• Assist the Event Manager with facility rental site visits as necessary

Skills and Abilities

• Excellent time management skills
• Excellent verbal communication, and experience communicating with seniors and understanding effective techniques for encouraging neuroplasticity would be considered an asset
• Strong research skills, and experience completing research
• Must be detail oriented with ability to multi-task
• Ability to work within a small team environment, and with minimal supervision
• Ability to exercise good judgment, critical problem solving and initiative
• Ability to adapt and thrive in an ever-changing environment
• Knowledge of the museum industry and interpretation methods
• Experience with classroom management skills is considered an asset
• Knowledge of the aviation industry and military history is considered an asset
• Being able to answer visitor questions in a second language is considered an asset

Minimum Standards

• Minimum 1 year of programming experience, preferably with seniors
• Undergraduate degree in a relevant field with preference given to education, history, psychology, or museums studies. Equivalencies will be considered
• Must have an average knowledge of computer software programs including Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Publisher etc. Knowledge of the Adobe Creative Suite is considered an asset
• Criminal record check and Vulnerable Sector Search
• A valid class 5 license and regular access to a vehicle

Physical Demands

• Standing on hard floors for long periods of time
• Moving boxes and other support material (supplies, displays, chairs, tables, boxes full of delicate artifacts, etc.)
• Ability to lift up to 20 kilograms

Salary

$22-26 per hour, plus health benefits after 90-day probationary period. The intended start date is in January.

Position closes January 4, To apply please send your resume and cover letter to Applications without a cover letter will not be considered.

Job Types: Full-time, Fixed term contract

Contract length: 12 months

Pay: $22.00-$26.00 per hour

Expected hours: 37.5 per week

Benefits:

• Dental care
• Extended health care
• On-site parking
• Paid time off
• Vision care

Application question(s):

• Did you attach a cover letter?
• Have you created new educational experiences before? If yes, for what age group?

Experience:

• educational programming: 1 year (preferred)

Work Location: In person