Older Youth Leader

Older Youth Leader
Status: Part-Time

Older Youth Leaders work directly with an assigned class of approximately 20-25 students, acting as a positive adult role model, coach, and mentor. Older Youth Leaders must have a genuine interest in the growth, development, and provision of a safe and nurturing environment for the students they teach. An Older Youth Leader’s ability to establish authority through leadership, communication, and most importantly patience, will be required in giving our students the stability and nurturing atmosphere they need to succeed. Ensuring that Think Together students reach their potential takes a tremendous amount of hard work, flexibility, and commitment.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Lead a group of approximately 20-25 students in an instructional setting, maintaining high standards for behavior and safety by implementing the Think Together four core agreements:

Be responsible · Be respectful · Be safe · Have fun

• Serve as a positive adult role model for older youth in the program through appropriate dress, speech, and attitude.

• Provide homework assistance, academic enrichment and physical activity, using curriculum and materials provided by the program.

• Create an engaging environment that fosters a sense of belonging that older youth want to be in.

• Support older youth in making positive behavior choices and take disciplinary measures when appropriate.

• Engage older youth by following, implementing, and assisting in creating lesson plans.

• Provide general instruction that is “active” through different exposures – seeing, touching, and doing. These would be activities that allow older youth to be physically active, stimulate their innate curiosity, and that are hands-on, and project based.

• Provide general instruction that is “collaborative” that will help older youth build team skills
  that include listening to others, supporting group learning goals, and resolving differences and conflicts. These would be activities that allow older youth to engage in a common task where each individual depends on and is accountable to each other.

• Provide general instruction that is “meaningful” that gives older youth some ownership over the learning topic, the means to assess their own progress, and is relevant to their own interests, experiences, and the real world in which they live.

• Provide general instruction that supports mastery so that older youth can learn about the importance and joy of mastery through opportunities to learn and practice a full sequence of skills that will allow them to be proficient. Therefore, activities need to be explicitly sequenced and designed to promote the layering of new skills.

• Provide general instruction that “expands horizons’ through learning opportunities that take older youth beyond their current experience and expand their horizons. These activities should go beyond the walls of the school’s facilities to increase older youth’s knowledge of their surrounding neighborhood and the larger global community.

• Ensure older youth safety by assisting in set up, break down, and ongoing maintenance in an effort to keep the school or community site clean and orderly.

• Promote positive interactions between volunteers and older youth in accordance with safety guidelines.

• Maintain older youth safety by taking roll and reviewing sign-in/ sign-outs for students and volunteers.

• Identify older youth needs and communicate to Site Facilitator, Site Program Manager, teachers, school administration, parents, and volunteers as appropriate.

• Commit to a full-year program, demonstrated by arriving on-time, every day and completing timecards appropriately.

• Participate in staff development activities.

OTHER RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Arrives punctually in order to meet responsibilities in site start up and assignments. Maintains close communication with Site Facilitator and/or Site Program Manager regarding planned or emergency absences for the same reason.

• Serves as a positive role model for older youth in the program through appropriate dress, speech, attitude and courtesy.

• Assists in keeping the site clean, including cleaning tables, mopping and vacuuming.

• Assists daily with snack preparation, serving and clean up.

• Maintains highest degree of confidentiality in staff, student and volunteer matters.

• Complies with THINK Together organization and School Site policies and follows procedures.

QUALIFICATIONS AND REQUIREMENTS:

• 48 college semester or 60 college quarter units OR a Bachelor’s Degree are required
• Ability to speak and write Standard English appropriate in a public school setting
• Minimum age of 22
• At least six months experience working with a group of 10 or more students in a classroom, afterschool, or recreation environment
• Advanced Math and English skills (6 – 12 grade)
• Excellent communication skills (Written and Verbal)
• Support our English-learner population by being bi-literate (Spanish preferred)

BACKGROUND CHECKS/TESTING:

• Must pass Live Scan (criminal background check via fingerprinting)
• Provide a clear TB test
• Pass Advanced Math and English skills (K –8) testing