ESOL Program Intern

PROGRAM SYNOPSIS:

CASA’s Education Department spearheads the integration of place-based and people-based strategies to improve Langley Park, MD and other working class, immigrant communities in Maryland, Virginia and York, PA. Our goal is to break down traditional silos by advocating for trans-formational change through partnerships and collaboration internally and externally with other educational and social services partners such as local school districts, community based organizations and community members. The Education Department is a fast paced, team oriented department that addresses a variety of issues ranging from educational advocacy, Adult ESOL, education, place based and two generation programming. Our Adult ESOL program serves over 1,000 students per year in various sites across Montgomery, and Prince George’s Counties and Baltimore City. In addition, we have various programs throughout the year in Langley Park, MD that serve thousands of community members per year.

The Education Department’s Adult ESOL Program uses Popular Education and Traditional Education methodologies to address the educational needs of its adult learners and to provide them with otherwise unavailable educational opportunities.

“Popular Education is a collective and long-term educational process that empowers educator and students to apply a critical eye to the current political, socio-economic, and cultural reality in order to transform it… Popular Education differs radically from mere training or the simple transmission of information. It allows people to develop the critical thinking skills necessary to understand, make commitments, come up with ideas, transform, and be transformed.” – Ranulfo Peloso.

Lessons are focused upon concrete and practical everyday experiences. Students, as adults, come to class with experiences they are encouraged to share and peer teach while performing tasks. Class materials are geared towards student’s life experiences and promote both civic engagement and community empowerment. Daily lessons empower students to make positive social change within their community and connect students to concrete opportunities to join other CASA members in the fight for immigration reform, workers’ rights, universal equality, and social justice.

The ESOL Program Intern is to be a college student in her/ his sophomore or junior year of college who will work directly with CASA’s ESOL staff to perform a range of duties that ensure high program quality in the areas of administration and outreach.

• Record and track program data and student enrollment data on Excel spreadsheets and in Salesforce database, particularly at the start and end of each session
• Update outreach materials, student surveys and other program materials
• Assist in the maintenance of the ESOL Program’s online library of curriculum materials and instructional resources
• Perform administrative duties such as organizing paperwork and office materials and making copies of supplemental and testing materials on a weekly basis
• Conduct outreach calls, text messages and emails in Spanish (mostly) and English to potential ESOL students to provide a program overview and information regarding upcoming registrations
• Develop a comprehensive list of community serving organizations with the potential to provide referrals to CASA’s ESOL services
• Assist the ESOL Coordinators in updating curriculum materials, including conducting online research of multimedia ESOL resources
• Participate in outreach events and other CASA community events related to immigration reform and social justice
• Potential for other duties to be performed as the occasion and necessity arises

PREFERRED EXPERIENCE/ SKILLS SET:

Bilingual (Spanish and English) required; comfortable speaking on the phone in Spanish
• Punctual and able to consistently meet all assignment deadlines
• High comfort level with basic computer programs, including Microsoft Word and Excel; willingness to learn other needed computer skills and programs, particularly Salesforce database and Google sheets
• Comfortable working both independently and as part of a team
• Extremely detail oriented and organized so as to ensure the maintenance of highly accurate student enrollment data
• Respectful of all cultures and comfortable working in a multicultural environment; prior volunteer experience with an educational institution, public policy and advocacy organizations/non­profits and a familiarity with local immigrant and working class communities preferred
• Committed to progressive social change and supportive of CASA’s mission
• Strong customer service skills; welcoming, outgoing, and patient in interactions with community memberships

BENEFITS OF POSITION

● Experience working with one of the state’s largest adult ESOL programs and the opportunity to learn from a programmatic perspective the essential qualities and protocols needed to operate an innovative, non-profit ESOL program
● Exposure to Popular Education and adult continuing education curricula
● Experience performing administrative tasks essential to non-profit entry level employment including Excel spreadsheets, Google sheets, professional email correspondence, and Salesforce database
● Hands-on experience in grassroots community organizing and social justice initiatives.
● Opportunity to practice written and spoken Spanish in a professional environment and interacting with native speakers.
● Experience working in a nationally recognized non­profit organization that serves the immigrant community in Virginia.