Creative Writing Facilitator

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Do you want to make a difference in a teen’s life? Share the joys of writing with underserved youth!

The Words Alive Teen Services program supports approximately 250 underserved youth within the San Diego county Juvenile Court and Community School system each month through our Adolescent Book Group (ABG) program . Many of these students have experienced incredible hardships including homelessness, familial violence , and teen pregnancy.

ABG volunteer teams provide monthly, bi-monthly, or weekly in-class book discussion, writing, and project-based learning sessions as part of the school’s language arts program . Curriculum guides will be provided to support volunteers in preparing for their sessions.

We are looking for enthusiastic volunteers to facilitate writing sessions with our program participants. Writing styles explored include creative, expository, descriptive, persuasive, and poetic. Writing prompts are designed around the literary themes presented in the assigned book.

Goals and outcomes :

Volunteers provide engaging conversation and focused writing exercises, encourage student participation, cultivate critical thinking and literary analysis, proffer opportunities for world exploration, and help students develop healthy self-expression. Volunteers act as positive role model s , offering students support and encouragement with educational and career goals .

Ideal volunteers should :

• Be at least 18 years old
• Enjoy reading
• Have professional writing experience
• Be comfortable working with adolescents
• Be willing to engage in deep conversation covering a wide variety of discussion topics in a classroom setting
• Be culturally sensitive to the diverse backgrounds of our students
• Show maturity in their actions and decisions
• Have reliable transportation

Hours and location:

Volunteers can expect to spend 10-30 minutes prepping for each session in addition to reading the assigned book on their own. Volunteers work remotely at a specific school site for the academic year (October to May). Commitment varies by site; most sessions range from 60 to 75 minutes. Writing sessions are once every six weeks. Volunteers have the option to participate in discussion sessions with the rest of the team bi-weekly if they wish.

Required Paperwork and training:

Volunteers will need to submit a completed application, attend a 1-hour new volunteer orientation , submit a negative TB test, complete a background check , and attend a 2-hour program training .

Benefits:

T raining is provided.

Supervisor:

Teen Services Program Manager