Position Description: VISTA Regional Coordinator

Mission – To improve the future of Arkansas children and families by advancing literacy education through community engagement and tutoring so that all children can read proficiently.

Vision – Every child in Arkansas will read proficiently by the end of third grade.

Goals

  • Increase childhood reading proficiency by placing and supporting volunteer tutors in public schools and by providing literacy resources to children. Demonstrate the success of tutoring programs using scores, surveys, and other reliable measurements.
  • Build community engagement in the education process by involving corporations, churches and other community institutions in the tutoring program.
  • Increase public awareness and appreciation among the general public and targeted constituencies for the need for grade level reading proficiency by communicating relevant information and raising the profile of AR Kids Read as an advocate for childhood reading proficiency.

Position:

Reporting to the Executive Director and Community Relations staff, the Regional Coordinator will support the volunteer reading tutor and school network in which community volunteers tutor early elementary struggling readers during the school year, after school, and during summer programs. Duties will include but are not limited to:

  • Provide support to the tutoring portion of the program including school site coordinators and tutors.
  • Manage volunteer relationships including ongoing communications and volunteer recognition.
  • Provide adequate tools and resources to the tutors.
  • Serve as the connector between the school contacts and the tutors.
  • Coordinate with school contacts including principals, literacy coordinators, and teachers to ensure program success at the school level including:

Providing updates and resources to school contacts on an ongoing basis

Arranging regular in-person meetings with school contacts to best support their role in the tutoring program.

  • Expand/strengthen partnerships/networks by working with the 70+ collaborative organizations to coordinate efforts between AR Kids Read and those partners. Will also assist in expanding the network of organizations as well as facilitate joint funding, staff training, and sharing of resources where possible.
  • Participate in volunteer recruitment and use the volunteer management system by helping to identify and establish new tutor volunteer pools, as well as expand existing pools. In addition, will aid in the task of data-entry for Volunteer Hub including entry of day/time slots for each school, signing up of new tutors and maintaining any tutor-specific data housed on the database.
  • Expand community awareness and engagement by aiding in the development of effective programs to engage the students and families served by the program, such as family literacy nights. Will participate in existing community awareness events and activities, as well as develop new ones.
  • Demonstrate the effective use of technology using various forms of technology in a variety of activities. In addition to the tutor database management system, communication programs, social media, and website management may be included.
  • Assist in developing and documenting the on-going improvement of the program and materials including the development of toolkits, modelmaterial and program documentation.

This is a full-time national service position that provides a living allowance of $455.70 every two weeks. In addition, there is an end of service award – a choice between an Education Award of $5,815 or a stipend of $1500 (both are taxable). (Child care assistance and health care coverage may be available, are not guaranteed and have other qualifying requirements.)

Qualifications

The Regional Coordinator will be thoroughly committed to AR Kids Read’s mission and to national service. All candidates should have the following qualifications and experience:

  • At least 18 years of age.
  • A US Citizen, National or Permanent Resident.
  • Bachelor’s degree or higher (preferred but not required).
  • Available to begin serving in July or August for a one-year term.

To Apply

Please send a resume and cover letter to . Include the words “Regional Coordinator VISTA” in the email subject line.