Writers' Room Program Assistant

About the Opportunity

826 Boston seeks a dynamic, communicative, and flexible individual to serve as the Writers' Room Program Assistant at Boston International Newcomers Academy (BINcA). We are seeking a candidate who can ensure reliable, robust support for students while also building on the current strengths of the BINcA Writers' Room Team, including engaging students in meaningful writing and leadership opportunities after school, supporting students' social-emotional development, and partnering with teachers to enhance the writing instruction in their classrooms.

Mission

826 Boston is a nonprofit writing, tutoring, and publishing organization where students in grades K-12 and beyond can share their stories, amplify their voices, and develop as leaders in school and in life.

Responsibilities

The Writers' Room Program Assistant will work 40 hours a week. Regular in-person hours are required.

• • In-Person Hours: Monday through Thursday: 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM
  • In-Person Location: Boston International Newcomers Academy, 100 Maxwell Street, Dorchester Center, MA 02121
  • Remote Hours: Most Fridays. There are required all-team meetings, professional development, and tasks to complete on virtual Fridays.

• Occasional departmental and organizational meetings will take place on Fridays at our central offices in Egleston Square.

Tutoring Students

• Serve as a writing tutor to students seeking support with writing assignments for class visits across all content areas, writing workshops, and publication projects
• Support students in social emotional learning and to process life experiences through writing
• Support students' writing development through one-on-one conferences, small-group collaboration, and whole-class instruction leading reading and writing workshops
• Support students in writing college essays/personal statements through a series of College Essay Boot Camp programs and drop-in sessions
• Co-lead Student Editorial Board for each publication project, ensuring students have the opportunity to inform book content, cover and interior design, and title selection

Programs Coordination

• Assist with Writers' Room volunteer coordination, including managing email communication; support tutoring sessions and co-lead pre-brief and debrief conversations
• Assist with data collection, analysis, and results-sharing associated with the Writers' Room, including tracking student visits and hours, distributing student and teacher feedback surveys, and participating in quarterly team-wide reports
• Support the Writers' Room Ambassador internship program, including facilitating professional development sessions, tracking hours, and coordinating project and event collaborations
• Coordinate partnership with the school's Dreamers program, supporting students after school with service projects and leadership training
• Support publishing projects and book release parties
• Communicate project progress to staff supervisor and seek counsel when help is needed to execute goals

Additional Responsibilities

• Support organization-wide summer programming
• Provide support at a select outreach and fundraising events, including nights and weekends on rare occasions
• Support BINcA Writers' Room Senior Manager with administrative tasks, as needed

Qualifications

The ideal candidate is a team player with a steadfast commitment to improving the quality of K-12 education, including adopting antiracist/anti-oppressive approaches, a desire to work in a collaborative and inclusive culture, and a passion for youth empowerment through cultivating a love for learning, academic enrichment, writing, and publishing.

826 Boston recognizes that impostor syndrome and the confidence gap might prevent some applicants from applying. Few candidates will have all of the relevant experience listed below, but 826 Boston is committed to assessing candidates with transferable skills and a willingness to be trained for this role.

Skills and experiences:

• Experience teaching/tutoring writing to students grades 9-12 in an urban setting
• Ability to adapt to various working and management styles
• Ability to participate in open communication to build community and foster team goals including the advancement of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Proficiency in organizational, time management, project management, and resource management skills
• Proficiency and/or willingness to learn virtual platforms such as Microsoft Office, Zoom, and Google Suite
• Proficiency in Spanish preferred, but not required
• Experience or interest with journalism, creative writing, or book publishing preferred, but not required
• Experience with classroom management preferred, but not required
• Familiarity with the Boston Public Schools system, particularly the schools in Roxbury, Dorchester, and Mattapan preferred, but not required

Compensation

The salary for this full-time position is $38,000 for 40 hours of work. Benefits include generous paid time off (including vacation, sick leave, holidays, and a two-week winter break); health and dental insurance (826 Boston covers 80% of premiums); parental leave; and more.

This is an exempt, position that reports to the BINcA Writers' Room Senior Manager. The ideal start date for this position is early August.

The priority application deadline for this position is May 20, 2024. After that date, applications will be considered on a rolling basis. It is in your best interest to apply as soon as possible.

826 Boston Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Statement

At 826 Boston, we honor and actively work toward diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) across our organization. We are committed to centering the voices of the students who we serve, to creating inclusive spaces, and to incorporating feedback from our community into our decision-making processes. Our DEI lens is always evolving through the courageous conversations in which we participate and the relationships that we build through our work and service. We strengthen our cultural competency through experience, training, and feedback, which informs the development of all new organizational practices and goals and the evaluation of all existing procedures.

826 Boston is dedicated to providing a platform for student advocacy through writing and publishing opportunities. In our work and mission, we are committed to dismantling white supremacy culture by recognizing that we are complicit in systems of racism and oppression. We will work to hold ourselves accountable in addressing these harmful structures and behaviors. To learn more about our DEI Action Plans across the organization, please click here.

About Us

826 Boston is part of a national network of youth writing centers, co-founded by the award-winning author Dave Eggers and educator Nínive Calegari, that were named in GOOD Magazine's "30 Places We Want to Work." Since opening in 2007, 826 Boston has delivered its free youth writing and tutoring programs to more than 29,000 students and has been recognized by The Boston Globe as one of the best places in the city to volunteer. 826 Boston's youth writers have published their work in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, and in numerous award-winning 826 Boston books, including A Place for Me in the World, which was hailed as a "triumph of middle school education" by The Boston Globe. In 2013, the 826 National network garnered the prestigious American Literacy Prize awarded by the Library of Congress.

Accommodations

826 Boston provides reasonable accommodations for candidates with disabilities at every stage of the application process. Disclosing a disability or requesting a need for accommodations is a separate process from admissions and will have absolutely no bearing on a candidate's application status. 826 Boston will make every effort to meet your request, but specific requests are not guaranteed. If you need to request an accommodation, please contact Catherine Gomez at Catherine@826boston.org.

How to Apply

Please include why you are interested in 826 Boston and how your experience has prepared you for this position in your cover letter.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.