Peace Games Coordinator, Peace Games, Inc.

Organization Link
Peace Games
Position Description

About Peace Games
Peace Games is a national movement of schools committed to preparing children to be peacemakers. Peace Games (www.peacegames.org) was founded on the belief that young people have the power and responsibility to change the world. We are an innovative violence prevention program that teaches elementary school students to be peacemakers. The Peace Games approach engages whole school communities - families, teachers, teen and college volunteers – to teach lessons of cooperation, communication and conflict resolution using games and community service projects. It is the goal of Peace Games to empower children so they may create their own safe classrooms and communities. Since Peace Games was founded in 1992, we have worked with over 20,000 elementary school students in 64 schools in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago and Boston.

About the Position
Peace Games Coordinators (PGC) are responsible for overseeing a partnership focusing on building a peaceable school through programming centering around using volunteers to teach a weekly curriculum and engage students in community service projects. Each Peace Games Coordinator works primarily at one or more elementary schools; s/he is supervised by the Boston Program Director.

School-centered responsibilities fall within the following general program areas:

Students and Curriculum
Ensure strong, consistent implementation of the Peace Games curriculum including a ten-week social/emotional skills-building curriculum in the fall and a ten-week community service-learning curriculum in the spring. This curriculum is largely taught by young adult volunteers and classroom teachers, and requires sophisticated management of this complex dynamic.

School Staff
Coordinate and deliver professional development activities with school staff including a Peace Games orientation and development of Peace Games-related skills; communication with school staff about Peace Games classes and support of volunteer teachers; identify and coach school staff member(s) around the integration of the Peace Games curriculum into the school’s academic classes.

Volunteers
Identify train, supervise and support community and college volunteers to teach the Peace Games curriculum.

Other
Other school based responsibilities may include working with school staff to integrate peacemaking into school discipline policies and procedures, reaching out to families around issues of peacemaking (through newsletters or family nights), or incorporating peacemaking into other ongoing school activities (such as student council groups or lunchtime activities). The PGC may also participate in school staff meetings, host site visits from funders or other partners, and facilitate data collection to evaluate the effectiveness of our program.

The Peace Games Coordinator serves as part of a team serving a network of Boston schools. Under the direction of the Boston Program Director, this position will provide information and assistance to other Peace Games’ departments, assist in the planning and implementation of network wide activities such as training, and perform other tasks as needed.

Skills and Experience
An ideal candidate will bring the following skills and experiences:
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, organizational skills
• 2-4 years experience working in K-8 teaching/school
• Ability to multi-task and to work in a fast pace environment
• Flexible and adaptable; comfortable with experimenting and innovating
• Creative, independent worker
• A great sense of humor
• Strong administrative/organizational skills
• Strong cultural competencies/experience with BPS diverse student body
• Excellent computer skills- Microsoft Office
• Strong supervisory and facilitation skills
• Good attention to detail; able to compile and prepare reports and documents accurately Self starter; high degree of responsibility and follow through
• Must be able to maintain composure under pressure situations
• Some weekend and evening flexibility
• Ability to work independently
• Ability to work with diverse groups of people
• Passion for education and teaching others
• The ability to work in a team-environment
• Career oriented- a place to grow professionally
• Out going personality

Compensation and Benefits:
This is an exempt, full-time position reporting to the Boston Program Director. The salary for this position is commensurate with experience, with a generous benefits package.

Additional Qualifications:

Additional skills that contribute to success in this position:
• Experience with high school and college volunteers
• Fluency in Spanish or French
• M.Ed. or equivalent is a plus
• Teacher certification is a plus

How to Apply:

To be considered for a position, please send a resume and cover letter with any supporting information. Please address the following question in your cover letter.
• Why are you a strong candidate for this position?
• Why is this position a good fit for your life/career at this juncture in time?

Peace Games seeks to fill this position as soon as possible.

Please either mail a resume, references and cover letter to Human Resources, Peace Games, 280 Summer Street, Boston, MA 02210, or by email to: talent@peacegames.org.

For more information on Peace Games, please visit our website: www.peacegames.org.

Peace Games is an equal opportunity employer, committed to creating a diverse and healthy work place.

Compensation
Commensurate with experience
Deadline
March 22, 2009