Employer: Rock Tree Sky rocktreesky.org
Job Title: Mentor
Full Time
Compensation: $45,000 year plus health care benefits
Location: 12525 Ojai Santa Paula Rd. Ojai, CA 93023
To Apply: Send resume and cover letter to jim@rocktreesky.org
Program Description:
Rock Tree Sky is a mixed age, self-directed learning community. With social/emotional learning and nurturing relationships at the core of what we do, the children (aged 5-18) enrolled at RTS are supported in their freedom to tinker, create, play, explore, and engage in a variety of offerings that span a wide array of subject matter.
Rock Tree Sky was founded on the following principles:
Community Collaboration
We aim to create a safe space for intergenerational learning between folks of diverse backgrounds, through the sharing of our skills, passions, and resources, often in service of others. We actively seek to remove the barriers to exploration and creative, self expression, whether those are unmanageable shoelaces or systemic inequity. Adults model compassionate communication, self-regulation, and emotional intelligence.
Learner agency
Learners have the right to choose their activities, define their goals, and assess their progress.
Children’s voices are heard. Learners play a role in creating the agreements and practices of the RTS culture.
Making Meaning
RTS has joined the makerspace movement, where students use both new
technologies and traditional tools to work on real, personally meaningful, and culturally relevant
projects.
Mission Statement:
The mission of Rock Tree Sky is to cultivate an inclusive learning community where children and adults develop their whole self, through directing their learning in relationship with others.
Job Brief:
Rock Tree Sky is seeking an experienced or aspiring mentor that is passionate about compassionately caring for children. Mentors are motivated to be truly present with youth and tuned into the unique needs of individuals as they arise. Mentors provide support to learners whether their needs are on the macro level: i.e learning, or project based or micro level: i.e social/emotional. Mentors exemplify what it is to be a life-long learner; they model inquisitiveness and information seeking, work to increase their cultural competence, engage in projects or creative endeavors, seek opportunities for learning, collaborate with others, and share wisdom gained from experience.
Qualities Desired:
- Love of children
- Experience working with children (ideally experience working with children aged 5-7)
- Competency with facilitating conflict resolution.
- A willingness to question culturally and personally held beliefs that may contribute to segregation and oppression of all kinds.
- Bi-lingual, bi-cultural skills and knowledge.
- Awareness of the needs of the diverse communities we serve and in which we are located and of how to foster an inclusive, equitable learning environment.
- Compassionate awareness of the variety of unique needs different learners present.
- Uphold and be a model of our community agreements (take care of yourself, take care of each other, take care of the space) and encourage learners to do the same.
- Interest and experience with outdoor education and gardening in particular.
- Active interest in seeking information relevant to self-directed education movement, human development, communication (ie. read blog posts, listen to podcasts, read relevant literature). In other words, maintain a practice of continuous inquiry with regards to the work we are engaged in.
Job Responsibilities:
- Check in with and support the well-being of learners with particular attention paid to Roots Kids (5-7 year olds). This includes continual education and reflection through observation and other modes of education on the particular needs of this age group. I.e. discuss what you observe in this age group with mentors to gain insights; read books, articles, etc. particularly focused on this age group.
- Offer listening and mediation when conflicts between learners arise. Be able to facilitate conflict resolution following RTS’s Conflict Resolution Protocol. (This may mean pausing an activity to lend presence to the challenging event and/or seeking help from other mentors). Also, practice the community’s conflict resolution protocol when needed in your own conflicts with learners and or other adults
- Share ideas, curiosities, and projects that you are enthusiastic about with learners and community members, both modeling your own ongoing learning/curiosity and being responsive to the interests/curiosities/cultures of children. Present these in a way that is accessible, developmentally appropriate, and culturally relevant for all children ages 5-7.
- Co-facilitate morning and afternoon meetings with learners. Encourage and invite the practice of intention setting and reflecting.
- Communicate with parents/families (emails, phone calls, conferences. As well as striving for in-person connecting during pick-up/drop off times and community bonding).
- Presence at monthly community connection events.
- Facilitate one parent discussion group per year.
- Collect and share observations of children’s growth and learning via Google Docs.
- Monitor Imagination Room space. Care for the physical space of the Imagination Room primarily as well as other rooms and the outdoor space.
- Add to and rotate the offerings in the Imagination Room and outdoor area to keep the space dynamic and responsive to young people’s needs.
- Support the community with behind the scenes role(s) (may include space maintenance, communication, administration, etc.)
- Participate in family work days, staff in-service days, staff meetings. Be willing to collaboratively make decisions with co-workers about issues that impact the learning community.
