Education Internship
Education Internship
EDUCATION INTERNSHIP
IN RAPID CITY
Instruction & Curriculum Development
About Nell’s Table in Rapid City
Nell's Table is a teaching kitchen and event venue in Rapid City dedicated to bringing people together through food education. We offer hands-on cooking classes, kids camps, and culinary workshops that teach fundamental cooking skills, food safety, nutrition, and the joy of creating meals together.
Our founder, Marinell Simpson, is a certified classroom teacher and experienced chef and food instructor, in demand for her food and her culinary instruction.
Position Overview
We're seeking enthusiastic education majors with cooking experience to lead our summer kids cooking camps at Nell's Table. This internship provides hands-on teaching experience in a unique classroom setting where you'll develop curriculum, work with small groups of young learners (8-12 children), ages 6-14, and inspire children to explore cooking, nutrition, and kitchen confidence—giving you valuable skills for any teaching career.
What You'll Actually Do:
- Camp Instruction: Co-teach week-long cooking camps for children ages 6-14, teaching age-appropriate recipes, cooking techniques, and kitchen safety in intimate class settings
- Small Group Instruction: Work with small groups of 8-12 children, allowing for individualized attention and differentiated instruction based on each child's needs and skill level
- Curriculum Development: Work from provided templates and collaborate with the Nell's Table team to create lesson plans and camp themes that blend culinary skills with educational objectives
- Collaborative Teaching: Work alongside experienced Nell's Table staff and other interns to deliver engaging, hands-on learning experiences throughout multi-day camp series
- Classroom Management: Manage small group dynamics in a kitchen environment, ensuring safety, engagement, and positive learning outcomes
- Hands-On Teaching: Demonstrate cooking techniques, guide students through recipes, and adapt instruction for different learning styles and abilities
- Assessment & Documentation: Track student progress, provide encouraging feedback, and document camp activities through photos and notes
- Parent Communication: Interact professionally with parents during drop-off/pick-up and share highlights from camp days
What You'll Learn:
- Small group instruction techniques – gain experience working with manageable class sizes that allow for meaningful student relationships
- Classroom management in a non-traditional learning environment
- Curriculum design for experiential, hands-on learning
- Working with diverse learners and age groups
- Child safety protocols in a specialized setting
- Collaboration with culinary professionals and teaching peers
- Program evaluation and improvement
- Adapting lesson plans for different skill levels and learning needs
- Food and nutrition skills, recipes and concepts
- Friendships and connections
Mentorship & Professional Development:
Work alongside experienced chefs and culinary instructors who bring decades of teaching experience. You'll learn how to make education engaging and hands-on while building your teaching portfolio with real classroom experience. Collaborate with fellow classroom teachers, fellow education interns and culinary professionals, creating professional contacts and references for your future career in education.
Qualifications
- Currently enrolled in education, early childhood education, elementary education, or related major
- Enthusiastic about working with children and food education
- Strong classroom management and communication skills
- Patience, creativity, and flexibility
- Basic cooking knowledge or willingness to learn
- Comfortable working in an all-Mac environment (Pages, Numbers)
- Ability to work collaboratively as part of a teaching team
- CPR/First Aid certification preferred (or willing to obtain)
- Background check required
Position Details
Schedule:
- Summer position: 10 weeks, early June through early August
- Monday-Friday, 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM
- 30-40 hours/week
- Ideal for Rapid City students returning from out-of-area schools
Compensation:
- Paid internship: $15/hour with bonus potential ($600/week, approximately $6,000 for full 10-week program)
- Academic credit available (if required by your program)
- Letters of recommendation upon successful completion
Why This Internship Matters:
Education happens everywhere, not just in traditional classrooms. Teaching children to cook builds confidence, independence, math skills, following directions, and healthy eating habits. Our small group setting allows you to truly get to know each child, differentiate instruction effectively, and develop the kind of meaningful student-teacher relationships that are often challenging in larger classroom settings. This experience will strengthen your teaching portfolio and show future employers you can engage students through hands-on, experiential learning—a skill valuable in any grade level or subject area. You'll gain 400 hours of documented teaching experience working with children in an innovative educational setting.
At this point, we hope you're feeling excited about the job description you’re reading. Even if you don't feel that you meet every single requirement, we still encourage you to apply. We're eager to meet people that believe in our mission and can contribute to our team in a variety of ways —not just candidates who check all the boxes.
Application Process
Please submit resume and cover letter explaining:
- Why you're interested in teaching children through cooking/food education
- Your availability (confirm June-August availability)
- One experience working with children that prepared you for this role
- Two references
Marinell Simpson, Owner
Nell’s Gourmet & Nell’s Table
1018 Jackson Boulevard
Rapid City, SD 57702
Email
marinell@nellsgourmet.com
Nell's Table is committed to creating an inclusive workplace and we welcomes applications from all qualified candidates.