Bronx Teaching Artists & Assistants

Splat Lab; New York (NY); On-site; Part time

Job summary

An established industry player is on the lookout for creative and adventurous Lead Educators and Teaching Assistants to join their vibrant team. This role involves leading engaging after-school programs and workshops across NYC, where you'll inspire youth through unique enrichment classes. If you have a dynamic personality and a passion for teaching, this is the perfect opportunity to thrive in a fun and supportive environment. Join a community that values creativity and collaboration, and help shape the educational experiences of young learners in an exciting way!

Qualifications

• 1-3 years of experience working with youth in leadership roles.
• Strong group management and organizational skills are essential.

Responsibilities

• Lead classes and delegate tasks to Teaching Assistants.
• Engage students with fun and intellectually satisfying activities.

Skills

Group Management Skills

Dynamic Personality

Creative Teaching Methods

Leadership Experience

Positive Discipline Practices

Education

Experience with Youth

Background in Social Studies or Arts

Job description

Splat Lab is seeking dynamic, engaging, and adventurous Lead Educators and Teaching Assistants to join our team for pop-ups and after-school programs. If you are a creative educator looking to grow your practice and thrive in a creative and fun program, this is the place for you!

The ideal candidate will have multiple-day availability and is flexible to teach workshops at different schools.

We have programs in all parts of NYC but especially need educators in:

• The Bronx- Wakefield, South Bronx, Castle Hill

Schedule:

• We run after-school residencies as well as school-day pop-ups, school-day residencies, events, and school break camp.
• Option to work Pop Up event dates and residencies as they come up during school hours.

About Us:

Splat Lab grew out of the world of after-school, where we partner with over 50 schools to provide high-quality and unique enrichment classes for youth. We have two signature classes: Anthropology Arts and Splat Lab. This year we are partnering with multiple schools to provide 8-10 week after school programs as well as 1-day popup workshops, school day residencies, Saturday programs, and other events. We run camps in Inwood/Washington heights in October and February as well as other opportunities for full day programming.

Splat Lab: Splat Lab exists for the sole purpose of having fun! Each class is formatted to have 4 rotating stations: The Main Splat activity, such as making slime, marshmallow towers, or ooze; Splat Create where students can choose from a few activities such as monster puppets or zine making; Open splat: butcher paper drawing; and Splat Build: cup towers, dominos, etc.

Anthropology Arts: Our goal is to expose young people to the cultural traditions, voices, and histories of people that are often left out of traditional classroom settings and social studies curriculum. Each class is formatted to feature a community circle, project time with open-ended materials, collaborative clean-up, and a closing community circle.

Position Descriptions:

We have 4 tiers of educators:

• Explorers/Interns: new to education. We provide additional training and coaching with the opportunity to graduate and work as a regular assistant and eventually a Lead Educator.
• Teaching Assistants: work with leads to support classes.
• Lead Educators: Lead classes, delegate TAs or support staff from the school, be the point person for residencies.
• Master Teaching Artists: Can work alone, are very experienced (5 years minimum), masters level or similar, highly seasoned and are superstars. Lead educators can transition into the MTA role after coaching and approval.

We will provide virtual training and shadowing opportunities for educators to learn the teaching method and curriculum. Lead Educators will mentor TAs and give clear directions for their role in each session. Pairs will debrief and communicate frequently about how to make sure workshops are continually high quality, fun, and smooth.

Position Qualifications: We are looking for Educators that can learn any kind of curriculum and make it fun and intellectually satisfying. We need the type of person who kids can’t wait to see, with group management skills to ensure a smooth, fun and exciting class.

• 1-3 years of working with youth in a leadership role: leading groups in after-school, summer camps, museums, or early childhood settings. Babysitting and 1x1 tutoring experience is not applicable for this role (ok for explorers).
• A dynamic, cool, magnetic personality that will engage all students.
• Strong group management skills with the ability to confidently organize and lead transitions, set up structured projects, and create clear rituals and routines.
• The ability to direct and collaborate with TAs to keep all students excited and on task.
• Experience with strength-based, restorative, positive discipline practices.
• A progressive teaching style.

Lead Educator Background and Training:

Anthro: Content knowledge or interest in social studies, history, anthropology or art, and the ability to learn curriculum/content that may be new.

Splat Lab: Strong facilitation and classroom management skills; creativity and STEM knowledge a plus but not required.

• Museum educators, teaching artists or educators with a background in Montessori, Waldorf, Reggio Emilia etc. are highly encouraged to apply.
• Experience with under-resourced schools and special needs populations will be an advantage for some placements.

Compensation:

• Explorers: $18 per hour
• Assistant Teachers: $25 per hour
• Lead Educators: $35 per hour
• Master Teaching Artists: $50 per hour
• $20 per hour for non-teaching hours. We provide paid set up and clean up time as well as training and coaching.

Application Process and Timeline:

Candidates will be invited to an engaging group interview where they will demo one of our signature projects. Our group interviews are designed to be a community-building experience that gives applicants a mini-training on how our program works. Once hired, new educators join our Slime School program where we teach you how to lead all of our unique projects. We take onboarding seriously and give lots of shadowing, coaching, and training before taking on a residency or pop up. We cater the coaching and support to your needs.