Mini College Exploration - Young Lawyer's Lab Instructor
About The Position
Rainier Scholars – Tacoma launched in late spring 2021 and welcomed its first cohort during the summer of June 2022. It is designed as a unique public-school partnership that collaborates alongside fellow educators to improve the outcomes of students who face the biggest barriers to success. We work towards the larger goal of expanding opportunities for everyone by centering the experiences of Multi-Generational African Americans, a group facing a highly complex set of barriers due to the country’s history of enslavement and segregation, in our program design. Students entering Rainier Scholars - Tacoma spend their first three summers and two school years in an academically rigorous program . Mini College is the culminating summer experience for students in the early years of the program. The RST Mini College Exploration Teacher facilitates the educational success of students of color (primarily lower income with no college graduate in the family) who will enter 7th grade in the fall of 2026. Through intensive classroom instruction and academic enrichment opportunities, the Lawyer's Lab Instructo r prepares scholars for rigorous middle and high school honors programs in public schools. Rainier Scholars - Tacoma teachers seek to accomplish the following three goals in curriculum, instruction and assessment: Exposure to challenging content that will be present in rigorous academic settings; Development of advanced skills that will allow students to perform at top levels; Integration of cultural identity and resiliency themes relevant to the journey of a Rainier Scholar. The summer Mock Trial curriculum is designed to enhance students’ critical thinking, research and communication skills. It should also introduce students to the type of work done by professionals in their field of study, and prepare them to tackle 21st century problems by working in groups and breaking problems down into smaller chunks.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in a related field.
- Minimum of 3 years teaching or other proven equivalent experience in independent or public school environments.
- Highly organized, interested in collaboration, and possess strong listening and communication skills.
- Passion for working with a diverse group of young people .
- Demonstrated proficiency in UbD unit design (Understanding by Design, Wiggins & McTighe, 2005).
Nice To Haves
- Master's degree in education or related field.
- Course subject area expertise .
- Experience teaching at the elementary or middle school level with diverse populations.
- Experience scaffolding 90-minute teaching blocks.
- Tacoma residency and/or deep connection to the Tacoma community.
Responsibilities
- Direct classroom instruction on a daily basis , from 7/ 6 - 7/3 1 /2 6 , leading one section of students in a 2-hour block (1:16 teacher to student ratio) in a project-based learning environment.
- Two staff/teacher planning days (tentatively scheduled for 6/2 5 and 6/2 6 ) and attendance at Orientation (tentatively scheduled for Wednesday 6/17 from 3-5pm)
- Curriculum development and design in accordance with best practices and in collaboration with the Mini College Administrator and Associate Executive Director.
- Provide frequent feedback on student progress and work, respond to academic difficulties of students, work collaboratively in response to parent concerns and complete an end of summer progress report.
- Respond to student and families’ questions/needs during the summer session, including taking phone calls in the evenings and weekends (with appropriate boundaries around availability).
- Serve as a member of the Rainier Scholars - Tacoma staff.
- Teachers report to and receive supervision from the Mini College Administrator.
- Support the organization and supervision of field trips related to law.
