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Job Posting – Lake Worth West Steps to Success Middle School Summer Camp

Group Leader (Counselor) Position

Seasonal Position. The daily functions of this position consist of but are not limited to engaging and educating middle school summer campers about various health & wellness topics with the use of demonstrations and hands-on activities in an informal setting. This position requires individuals who are comfortable communicating to middle school youth in grades 6 – 8 and delivering health and wellness curriculum in an informal setting.

Qualified applicants will demonstrate enthusiasm and a willingness to learn. The Group Leaders will be expected to follow the curriculum provided and demonstrate proficiency in communicating health & wellness concepts to young audiences. Applicants should be good communicators, have the ability to complete tasks with minimal supervision, and demonstrate excellent customer service skills.

Essential Job Functions:

• Responsible for delivering Health & Wellness Summer Camp curriculum and engaging the campers in hands-on activities and demonstrations.
• Responsible for supervising campers to and from daily activities, ensuring that all campers are accounted for at ALL times.
• Responsible for overseeing assigned counselors and volunteers each week.
• Responsible for implementing safety rules and compliance to the camp behavior policy.
• Able to apply appropriate policies/procedures, enforce safety regulations, and respond quickly to critical incidents and emergencies.
• Demonstrates commitment to Lake Worth West’s vision, mission and values.
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications and Education Requirements:

Candidates will have to pass a background check and be able to sign an Affidavit of Good Moral Character.

Preferred Skills:

Must have experience working with children middle school. Experience in an informal or formal teaching environment is preferred. Candidate should accept, respect and be responsive to diversity. Applicants should demonstrate enthusiasm for working with children, and commit to Monday-Friday for the duration of the camp season (June 11, 2018 – August 10, 2018). First Aid certification is desirable.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:

Must be able to stand for extended periods. These positions require outdoor walking during the summer months, so employees will be exposed to the summer heat and humidity throughout the course of the day.

Salary:

$15.00 per hour

Please complete the application by clicking on the link below and send it to rrogers@lakeworthwest.org. No Phone Calls.

EMPLOYMENT APPLICATION

Just down the street from where Sandra Bueso lives is our community center which offers the 30-year-old mother just about everything she needs to raise her children.

Educational programs to teach her three children to excel at reading.

Playground and ball fields for her older kids to run.

A new mother’s support group so she can better bond with her infant son.

And, most recently: a job.

In November, Sandra became the Lake Worth West Resident Planning Group’s child watch specialist in charge of children whose parents are attending the BRIDGES of Lake Worth West programs.

“I’ve been coming here for several years and now I get to work with kids – I’m so happy and grateful,” said Sandra, a native of Honduras who has lived in Palm Beach County for much of her life.

Her new job requires her to babysit children while their parents take BRIDGES workshops and participate in other activities. But she’s taken on addition duties because she loves the job. She often does arts and crafts projects with the children and helps set up activities for the adults.

Just weeks into the job, Sandra started envisioning a lifelong career as a teacher working with pre-kindergarteners. She didn’t go to college and doesn’t love higher learning but being around our center over the years has opened her mind to new opportunities and challenges.

“I don’t love going to school, but I see myself in this field. I love the children and I love working with their mothers,” she said.

Rhonda Rogers, executive director of Lake Worth West Resident Planning Group, said Sandra has taken her job to another level.

“Sandra is planning and researching the activities. She’s great at this job,” Rhonda said.

Sandra is also offering advice to Lake Worth West Resident Planning Group’s Early Childhood Learning Collaborative, a group of community members that work to overcome school and educational challenges in their neighborhoods. Right now, the group is looking at ways to encourage parents to send their kids to school regularly, and Sandra provides good ideas from the perspective of a parent.

“As a parent, Sandra is giving us a valuable perspective on this issue,” Rhonda said. “Sandra has been coming to our center for some time now and now she’s a great employee. She’s come a full circle here. We’re glad to have her as part of our team.”

Learn about other Lake Worth West Resident Planning Group staff members here.

Fall in love with reading – it will open new opportunities for success.

That was the message of middle grade novelist Donna Gephart, who spoke during our inaugural #KidsMatter Literacy Luncheon and Silent Auction on Nov. 30 at the Benvenuto Restaurant in Boynton Beach.

The author of Lily and Dunkin, Death by Toilet Paper, How to Survive Middle School and other books told a crowd of more than 60 attendees that she grew up in a working-class neighborhood of Philadelphia and spent much of her free time in a library reading books on just about any topic.

“That place changed my life,” said Gephart, who went on to become a popular speaker at schools, conferences, and book festivals, and now lives in South Florida with her family.

The #KidsMatter luncheon was a fundraiser for a new program at Lake Worth West Resident Planning Group that will aim to change the lives of middle school students.

Proceeds from our event will be used to start afterschool and summer camp programs for middle school students, so they are better prepared for high school and beyond. The funds will also go to literacy programs for our children and youth.

At the luncheon, Chief Deputy Michael Gauger of Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office and Houston Tate, director of Office of Community Revitalization for Palm Beach County, also discussed how Lake Worth West Resident Planning Group has made a major difference in the lives of hundreds of people during their times of need.

Over the years, the community just off Military Trial near Lake Worth Road was cleared of crime, drugs, and dilapidated houses and turned into a model neighborhood complete with a playground, ballfields and a community center, which offers programs for residents to become better parents and help their children succeed in school.

“This has become a model community,” Gauger said. “It wasn’t just the police and county that made the difference – it was the residents who stepped up and worked with us to improve their streets.”

Rhonda Rogers, Executive Director/BRIDGES Director at Lake Worth West Resident Planning Group, said the community will continue expanding programs because the residents are committed to their neighborhood, and organizations like the Sheriff’s Office, the county government, Children’s Services Council of Palm Beach County, and many others are dedicated to funding programs and improvements.

“We have great support in the community,” Rogers said.

And now, there’s new support from friends of Lake Worth West Resident Planning Group through the #KidsMatter luncheon.

Rogers plans on the luncheon becoming an annual event to serve not just as a fundraiser for the organization but also bring attention to the importance of reading.

“Reading is key to everything,” she said.

Learn more about upcoming Lake Worth West Resident Planning Group events here.

Want to help us accomplish much more in our community?

If so, attend our inaugural #KidsMatter Literacy Luncheon and Silent Auction on Thursday, Nov. 30 at the Benvenuto Restaurant at 1730 North Federal Highway in Boynton Beach.

Proceeds from our event will be used to better serve our community and to offer more youth programs, such as afterschool and summer camp for middle school students. The funds will also go to literacy programs for our children and youth.

Our event’s main speaker will be award-winning youth middle grade novelist Donna Gephart, the author of Lily and Dunkin, Death by Toilet Paper, How to Survive Middle School and other books. She is a popular speaker at schools, conferences, and book festivals, and lives in South Florida with her family.

Also speaking at our #KidsMatter Literacy Luncheon will be Chief Deputy Michael Gauger of Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, and Houston Tate, director of Office of Community Revitalization for Palm Beach County. They will discuss how Lake Worth West Resident Planning Group has made a major difference in the lives of hundreds of people during their times of need.

Tickets are $60.

Get tickets to our event here.

If you are able to donate an item (gift cards, sport items, etc.) for our silent auction, that will be a significant added source of revenue for our organization and the programs we offer. Please call us at 561-649-9600 to learn more.

Your support of our event is vital to the success of our organization that assists low-income families in the Lake Worth West community by offering programs, activities, and resources for children, teens, and adults.

We hope you can join us on Nov. 30 at Benvenuto Restaurant!

Great news: we have been nominated for Nonprofit of the Year in the Hats Off Nonprofit Awards event on October 3 in West Palm Beach presented by Nonprofits First.

Lake Worth West Resident Planning Group, Inc., which operates our Lake Worth West Community Center, is among the 15 agencies nominated in the event’s Nonprofit of the Year (Operating budget $500,001-$2.49 million) category.

This is a big deal for us.

The recognition is an indication of the good work we are doing to help our families adapt and prosper in Palm Beach County.

In recent years, our center has expanded educational programming and events to assist hundreds of parents in raising their children through our BRIDGES at Lake Worth West program.

Our literacy initiative also is improving reading skills for young children as part of the Parent-Child Home program with our partner Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County. The staff visit homes to promote verbal interaction, parent-child bonding, and school readiness skills for young children.

(In fact, we are hosting our #KidsMatter Literacy Luncheon on Thursday, November 30 at Benvenuto Restaurant in Boynton Beach from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm. Proceeds for the event will benefit our center’s literacy programs for children and youth. Tickets are $60. Please call us at 561-649-9600 to learn more. Get tickets to our event here.)

In addition, we offer many other programs and events for teens and adults through our center.

For many years, our center was only known locally in the Lake Worth area. Today, we are catching the attention of the greater Palm Beach County community. This nomination is proof of that.

Come cheer us on during the Hats Off Nonprofit Awards event at the Harriet Himmel Theater at CityPlace from 5:30 – 7:30 PM. The event will benefit Nonprofits First’s education and Rising Leaders programs.

Get tickets here.

The Lake Worth West Community Center has a new staff member – she’s no ordinary staff member!

Miranda Aquino-Vallejos joins us as a paid student intern.

She is, in so many ways, perfect for the job because Miranda has spent a good part of her life coming to our center and taking part in our Bridges of Lake Worth West programs, said Rhonda Rogers, executive director of Lake Worth West Community Center.

“I couldn’t think of a better person for this job,” Rogers said. “She’s the epitome of the ideals that our center wants to accomplish in this community.”

Miranda is a 2017 graduate of Lake Worth Senior High School. She has been an active participant of our United Way-funded College Prep program since her freshman year in high school. The Preparing Youth for Tomorrow Program (PYFTP) gave her the support, guidance, and tools she needed to fulfill her dream of going to college. This fall, Miranda will begin her freshman year at Florida Atlantic University where she plans to study business.

As a first-generation college student, Miranda was inspired by the stories she heard of other first generation college students who had overcome obstacles to pursue their dreams. Growing up just half a block away from Lake Worth West Community Center, she adopted our center early on as her second home. Through elementary school, she attended homework assistance programs and has fond memories of the gardening and computer programs she attended during her youth.

Previously shy and quiet, she credits the PYFTP with giving her the opportunity to develop the social skills and confidence she needed to make positive choices in her life. Over the years, she’s given more than a thousand hours of volunteering at Bridges of Lake Worth West.

Now that she’s a staff member of our center, Miranda will continue urging other teens to get involved in community service and to take advantage of opportunities for making college possible.

Miranda added: “I’m excited about my future and thankful for all of the people who donate to the United Way to help students like myself fulfill our dreams.”

To learn more about our Preparing Youth for Tomorrow Program, click here and call us at 561-649-9600.