Tutor, IRC Adolescent Literacy & Performing Arts After-School Program - International Rescue Committee - New York, NY

Location: Berta A. Dreyfus Intermediate School 49, Staten Island
Reports to: Education & Learning Programs Coordinator

Position term: September-December, January-May (minimum of 1 semester commitment)

Hours: 3 -10 hours per week

BACKGROUND:

For over 75 years the International Rescue Committee has helped refugees escape persecution and rebuild their lives in New York. The IRC New York Youth Program supports personal growth, cultural adjustment, and education of refugee, immigrant, and other youth and their families through partnerships with New York City public schools, community-based organizations and local colleges and universities to provide year-round academic support, literacy training, and enrichment activities.

The IRC has been working on Staten Island’s North Shore since 2006 to increase the number and quality of services available to the Island’s growing refugee and immigrant communities, serving in particular the large Liberian, Sierra Leonean and other West African populations. The IRC runs a dynamic after school Adolescent Literacy & Performing Arts Program at Berta A. Dreyfus Intermediate School 49 (IS 49), supported by the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development.

SCOPE OF WORK:

The IRC’s SPOTLIGHT! Program fuses Literacy instruction with the Performing arts. It runs Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 2:30 pm – 5 pm at IS 49 in Staten Island. The Program employs multiple strategies to improve reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills among 25 students reading below grade level and fuses literacy instruction with the performing arts (dance & theater) to help students reading below grade level (achieved Level 2 on the City or State English Language Arts exams) to improve their literacy skills. Weekly theater workshops culminate in performances twice per year. The goal for each participant at the time of program completion is to be reading and writing at grade level.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:

• Set up and prepare for day’s activities
  


• Review lesson plans daily, understand activities, and be prepared to assist instructors
  


• Assist instructors to tutor students during individual and small group activities
  


• Assist Instructors to clean up materials and return them to the program office after class
  


• Assist teachers to enforce program rules and follow program routines to create safe and productive learning environment
  


• Take attendance
  


• Work and communicate consistently with IRC staff, volunteers, and school personnel as needed
  


• Other related duties as assigned
  

Requirements

• Reliable and flexible
  


• Participate in an IRC Youth Program Orientation and Trainings
  


• Experience & commitment to working with youth, preferably adolescents reading below grade level and English Language Learners
  


• Willing to learn about cross-cultural communication and ethnic backgrounds of clients
  


• Willing to adhere to IRC volunteer and workplace policies
  


• Ability to communicate clearly and effectively in English
  


• Proficiency in second language desirable: West African dialects, Spanish, French, Haitian Creole, Mandarin Chinese, Arabic, or Albanian
  

Interested applicants should submit a resume and cover letter at www.Rescue.org/Careers . Applications will be reviewed and interviews conducted on a rolling basis. The internship is unpaid.