Wilson Community School

Job Posting:

SUMMER SUPPORT STAFF

Wilson Community School

@ Alexander Wilson Elementary School

1300 S. 46th Street

Philadelphia, PA 19143

Program Description:

Wilson Community School

Wilson Community School is a partnership between Alexander Wilson Elementary School of the School District of Philadelphia and the University-Assisted Community Schools (UACS) program operated by the Netter Center for Community Partnerships at the University of Pennsylvania. Wilson Community School (WCS) senior staff is responsible for developing and operating all out-of-school-time (OST) programming at Alexander Wilson Elementary, including the after-school program, structured recess program, and the summer program. WCS receives significant support from Public Health Management Corporation for its programming, and also works closely with the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania. In only its third year of existence, WCS has quickly developed into a dynamic community school that provides quality programs that address the academic and social needs and interests of our scholars and families, and which is intricately integrated into Wilson Elementary School and the surrounding community.

The success of Wilson Community School lies in its commitment to living up to its name – to create a space where children, youth, and adults can come together in the spirit of community to explore what can be achieved and what is possible through education, service, and a sense of common purpose – and thus to truly become an institution made of, for, and by the community it serves. The program’s director and coordinators serve as liaisons between the school-day, out-of-school-time programs, and the community, in a variety of ways – serving on the school’s Leadership Team and its subcommittees (Climate, Curriculum & Instruction, and Organizational Management); meeting with school-day faculty, administrators, and Penn partners to discuss the academic, social, and behavioral development of students; assisting in the development of school-wide initiatives, including the school-wide Positive Behavior Support Initiative; and engaging parents and family members via the Community Advisory Board (comprised of WCS staff and parents/family/community members), individual family conferences, regular family meetings, parent workshops, and special events. WCS staff is comprised of community members, University of Pennsylvania and University of the Sciences students, school-day faculty, and parents. WCS programming focuses not only on developing the academic and social skills of our scholars, but also on developing a sense of community and service amongst all who serve within or are served by WCS. Like its scholars, Wilson Community School is young and has much to offer. Like our scholars, our future is bright, with no limits on what we can achieve together.

Wilson Community Summer Program

For six weeks during the summer, 120 children from the surrounding community attend the Wilson Community Summer Program from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm, Monday through Friday. Summer programming is developed and implemented with a focus on the following themes/subjects:

Project-based learning: Scholars learn through research, collaboration, and experience, while lessons and activities focus on interactive, hands-on, and student-driven ways of learning.

Academic enrichment: Lessons and activities focus on developing knowledge and skills in literacy, mathematics, social studies, and science.

Cultural immersion & understanding: Each class represents a culture from various parts of the world and throughout history, with scholars learning about their culture’s traditions, arts, and ways of life.

Community & service: Scholars explore the meaning of community, and what it means to serve others in one’s community.

Morning programming consists of enrichment activities based on the summer curriculum, with a focus on themes such as literacy, STEM (science, technology, engineering, & mathematics), cultural studies, civics & social justice, health & nutrition, environmental awareness, entrepreneurship, character education, and teambuilding. Afternoon programming is dedicated to extracurricular activities centered on themes such as the arts, communications & media, and physical education. Weekly field trips are both fun and educational, and weekly family meetings serve as a forum to inform families about current and upcoming events and logistics, share class and individual accomplishments, organize guest speakers and workshops, and to focus on community-building. Other program partners and highlights include: Summer Service Interns are high school aged youth who are recruited, trained, and mobilized to serve as classroom aides to summer teaching interns and mentors to program youth, with a focus on developing the interns’ leadership, mentoring, advocacy, and career skills.

Position Offered:

The Wilson Community School at Alexander Wilson Elementary School is looking to hire Summer Support Staff for its summer program. The Wilson Community Summer Program runs Monday through Friday, from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm, for 6 weeks during the summer (7/5/2011 – 8/12/2011). The program serves children in grades K through 6 (ages 5 through 12). The daily schedule consists of breakfast, morning class meetings, project-based learning & academic enrichment activities, lunch & recess, and afternoon extracurricular activities.

Position Description:

We are looking for qualified people to fill the role of Summer Support Staff (SSS). These staff members are service interns who serve in a variety of roles that support the administrative and programmatic capacity of the summer program.

during the remaining weeks of theAfter-School Program(which is currently in session and ends on June 17), we need Support Staff to serve as mentors during After-School Program hours (3:00 pm - 6:30 pm). You will serve as classroom aides, assisting After-School Instructors (ASIs) in managing the class, delivering lessons, facilitating project-based learning and extracurricular activities, helping scholars with their homework, and providing scholars with whatever support they may require.
during our seven-week summer program,Wilson Freedom School(June 29 - August 13), we need Support Staff to serve in a variety of roles and to take on many different responsibilities, including:
classroom support - assisting our Servant Leader Interns in managing classes and delivering lessons
lunch & recess - staffing lunch and socialized recess, facilitating various game/activity areas during recess, ensuring scholars clean up after themselves during lunch, helping to set up and break down lunch and recess
assisting in facilitation of the Social Action Project - "Health, Wealth, & Social Responsibility"
WFS scholars will be learning (and teaching their family, friends, and fellow scholars) about issues related to individual and community health and wealth, and the responsibility of all community members and citizens to address the issues facing and/or threatening our community
this service learning project will be facilitated through the process of project-based learning (PBL), where the students drive the learning, conducting research, completing tasks, and designing and implementing all aspects of the project, with the instructor/teacher as the facilitator
facilitating extracurricular activities - if you have any talents, skills, or interests that may lend themselves to being an extracurricular activity for our scholars, we will ask you to plan and teach at least one EC lesson/activity per week
recreation - staffing our recreation periods, which include going to a local park and organizing and facilitating game/activity areas (much like recess), including the possibility of swimming (to be determined)
administrative tasks - such as file organizing, data entry, supply organization and distribution, copying, inventory, general logistical support
duringthe time leading up to Wilson Freedom School (now until June 29th), during hours outside of the After-School Program, we need Support Staff for the following tasks:
mentors for Socialized Recess - recess is held from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm daily, Monday through Friday, at Wilson Elementary, mentors will facilitate games/activities for Wilson students during recess
prep work for WFS - advertising (calling and flyering), enrollment data processing,classroom decoration creation ("freedom flare"), supply inventory and organizing, etc.
administrative tasks -such as file organizing, data entry, supply organization and distribution, copying, inventory, general logistical support

Dear prospective Summer Work-Study Student,

My name is Richard Liuzzi, and I am the director of Wilson Community School (WCS). WCS operates all out-of-school-time programming at Alexander Wilson Elementary School (46th & Woodland Ave.), which includes the After-School Program, Socialized Recess Program, and the summer program, Wilson Freedom School. A more detailed description of our programming is attached to this email.

I am emailing you because WCS is recruiting summer work-study applicants for the position ofSupport Staff. We will rely on our Support Staff to do many things this summer, including:

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If you are interested in working for Wilson Community School in the capacity of a Support Staff member,please email me back ASAP with acurrent resumeand aletter of intent.If we think you are an appropriate candidate, we will then arrange for you to come in to interview with WCS Senior Staff.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask, and my contact information is below.We hope you will take this opportunity to serve the scholars and families of the Wilson community, and to learn as much as (if not more than) the scholars you will be serving with this summer.

Best,

Rich Liuzzi

Director - Wilson Community School

P.S. - If you have already accepted a work-study position with another Netter Center program, I apologize if this email is in any way an inconvenience.