TNAC members serve youth in both school and community-based settings. TNAC supports deep and sustainable local partnerships that increase the number of people, organizations, and resources dedicated to ensuring graduation success for all youth.
True North AmeriCorps members will:
• Increase the number of significant caring adult relationships experienced by the youth participants
• Work one on one and in small groups to provide evidence based reading and math interventions to students not performing at grade level.
• Implement high quality in/out of school time and summer activities to support academic engagement, youth development, study skills practice, career exploration, etc.
• Actively engage youth in meaningful service-learning or civic engagement activities
• Mobilize volunteers to promote academic success and engagement.
Using a Response to Intervention (RTI) approach, each True North AmeriCorps member works with a caseload of youth to provide integrated and data-driven student support interventions. TNAC members work with a team of school and community personnel to analyze the data, make referrals, identify youth who need support using academic benchmarks and teacher feedback to develop a plan to ensure students receive a variety of supports, including connection to caring adults, integrated academic support, and service-learning opportunities both in the school and out-of-school settings and access to high-quality afterschool and summer programming.
Service Activities
Essential Functions:
• Work with site supervisor and neighborhood school personnel to identify youth who are not meeting academic standards or who possess other risk factors including behavior and attendance issues or socioeconomic status.
• Coordinate and deliver academic interventions in reading and math as well as provide after-school and summer academic enrichment activities during the late afternoon and evening hours.
• Develop and organize projects that engage youth participants in at least 20 hours of service-learning. Facilitate a school/community wide service learning project during Global Youth Service Day.
• Assist supervisor and site coordinator to keep program records and evaluate program outcomes, making changes as needed based on evaluation data.
• Recruit, screen, train, oversee, and support volunteers for all OST programming. Provide resources to volunteers and document their impacts and hours.
• Participate in all TNAC and AmeriCorps required training and assignments
Community Need Addressed
True North AmeriCorps (TNAC) is a State AmeriCorps program that helps prepare youth for on-time graduation and academic, civic and economic success. TNAC is a recognized leader in Minnesota's drop-out prevention efforts, working in partnership with the Minnesota Department of Education, Serve Minnesota, Minnesota Reading Corps, AmeriCorps Promise Fellows and regional and state leaders to address Minnesota’s drop-out crisis. Since 2003 over 700 TNAC members have been placed at 70 different sites throughout rural Northeastern Minnesota serving over 12,600 children.
To make a measurable difference in reducing Minnesota’s drop-out rate, TNAC’s members provide evidence-based supports to identified students in grades K-5. TNAC focuses on three strategies: 1) academic success, 2) academic engagement, and 3) service learning.
TNAC members strive to provide "the right support to the right student at the right time." TNAC members deliver data-driven and evidence-based supports that focus on promoting and improving attendance, behavior, and school success to a caseload of struggling youth who are at risk of dropping out of school.
Position Outcomes
During the service year, True North AmeriCorps members will provide
homework help and reading tutoring to 1450 K- 5 students. 75 percent of the
students assisted will show improvement in their academic progress. 80 percent of students who complete the program will improve in their academic engagement.
Benefits
Childcare assistance if eligible, Education award upon successful completion of service, Health coverage, Living allowance, Student loan forbearance, Training
Duluth YMCA Membeship
Skills you will gain
Youth development, project planning, volunteer mobilization, service-learning project development
Competencies You Will Develop
Communication
Demonstrate sensitivity and empathy, Listen to and consider others' viewpoints, Maintain open lines of communication with others, Speak clearly, in precise language and in a logical, organized and coherent manner, Turn taking, Write cleary and effectively
Creativity & Problem Solving
Able to identify and define the problem, Capable of generating possible solutions, Communicate the problem to appropriate personnel, Improvise, Provide relevant expertise
Teamwork
Develop constructive working relationships and maintain them over time, Establish a high degree of trust and credibility with others, Interact professionally and respectfully with supervisors and co-workers, Stay positive and outcome oriented, Use appropriate strategies and solutions for dealing with conflicts and differences to maintain a smooth workflow
Decisions
Accepts responsibility, Anticipate the consequences of decisions, Identify and prioritize the key issues involved to facilitate the decision making process, Involve people appropriately in decisions that may impact them, Quickly respond with a back-up plan if a decision goes amiss
Tools
Carefully consider which tools or technological solutions are appropriate for a given job, Operate tools and equipment in accordance with established operating procedures, safety standards, and ethical guidelines
Planning
Able to prioritize various competing tasks, Create environment of contribution, Create plan of action, schedule tasks so that work is completed on time, Demonstrate the effective allocation of time and resources efficiently, Effectively delegate tasks, Facilitate group planning, Set goals
Service
Be pleasant, courteous, professional and respectful when dealing with internal and external customers or clients, Honor the privilege of being able to work with and for those being served, Recognize the importance of maintaining privacy and confidentiality of those being served, Understand and anticipate the needs of others, Understand the importance of one's role in the functioning of the organization, Understand the significance of maintaining a healthful and safe environment