Playworks Corps Member, Playworks

Posted by Playworks on May 11, 2015

Playworks is the leading national nonprofit leveraging the power of play to transform children’s physical and emotional health. Playworks currently serves more than 900 schools in 23 U.S. cities, and reaches almost half of a million students directly and through professional training services. At Playworks we believe in the power of play to bring out the best in every kid. We are changing school climate by leveraging the power of safe, fun, and healthy play at school every day. We create a place for every kid on the playground to feel included, be active, and build valuable social and emotional skills. We partner with schools, districts, and after-school programs to provide a service or mix of services including on-site coaches, professional training for school staff who support recess, and consultative partnerships. For more information, please visit http://www.playworks.org.

About AmeriCorps:

AmeriCorps is a national community service program where people commit to serve with an organization. Nationwide, AmeriCorps members, commit to either a part-time or full-time position. At Playworks, our full-time AmeriCorps members commit to serving a 1700 hour term of service. This typically coincides with a full school year (about 10 months).

More information about Playworks and AmeriCorps can be found on the AmerCorps FAQ .

About the Position:
Our Playworks Corps Member position is a full-time role bringing healthy play and physical activity to primarily urban and low-income schools to create a positive environment for learning and teaching. Members are provided with extensive training and placed in an elementary school to work alongside teachers and school administrators to implement our on-site Playworks program. Members also generate community and family involvement in their school community by recruiting and supporting volunteers and facilitating community engagement activities.

Members commit to serving a full school year of at least 1700 hours. This position typically requires more than 40 hours per week and includes night and weekend sports league and community engagement activities. Members typically start service in August.

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

Program Duties:

Plan and implement play based programming during recess, in school and after school hours at a public elementary school through:

• Recess – create a safe and inclusive playground, be a significant presence on the playground by organizing and playing large games with 20+ students and be a role model.
• Junior Coach Program – implement a youth leadership program by providing student leadership opportunities at recess and facilitating trainings for students before or after school
• Class Game Time – lead individual classes in skills building, cooperative games, and activities to increase awareness of rules and boundaries at recess
• Interscholastic leagues – recruit and coach students for developmental sports leagues
• Community Engagement Events – design and implement one or two service projects during the year that engage students’ families at the school site
• Volunteer Recruitment – recruit and coordinate volunteers to build a strong school community that supports positive, inclusive play
• Service Projects – participate in national days of service and weekend service projects in the greater community

Administrative Duties:

• Maintain communication and a professional relationship with school staff, teachers, families, volunteers as a representative of Playworks and AmeriCorps
• Organize daily, weekly, and monthly program schedules
• Complete timesheets to track member service hours
• Supervise volunteers and collect volunteer logs
• Collect and enter data for various grant and evaluation requirements in an online database

For more information about the position check out our Day In the Life of a Corps Member .

Required Skills

• High school diploma or equivalent.
• Demonstrated experience leading and/or teaching groups of children with the ability to engage and inspire youth
• Demonstrated commitment to serving the greater community
• Dedicated to completing a full year of service (typically a 10 month school year and 1700 hours of service)
• Motivated self-starter with strong interpersonal communication skills, both oral and written
• Humorous and playful with ability to set clear goals and follow through with flexible and creative problem solving tools
• Conceptual ability for the larger perspective with a strong attention to detail and multitasking
• Experience interacting with diverse communities and the ability to integrate into an existing school community
• Knowledge of computer and internet based programs for use in communication and grant requirements

http://www.indeed.com/m/viewjob?jk=a9d12cafd5edb187&from=serp