Founded in 2013, Drama Club offers theater and mentorship as social-emotional learning tools to improve the overall wellbeing of youth. We are like a mobile drama club, bringing our classes into juvenile detention centers, jails and community centers throughout the city.                                   

Drama Club’s mission is to consistently care for youth—especially those who are incarcerated or court involved—by creating space for them to thrive, using improv as their guide.                                  

Our curriculum is improvisation-based and also includes a strong Youth Leadership component. Youth are primarily aged 12-21.

For more information about Drama Club please visit us at: https://www.dramaclub.org

Drama Club seeks part-time, year-round Teaching Artists to join its highly collaborative team of professionals and help deliver an improvisation-based curriculum to youth who are justice involved in NYC. Ideal candidates are committed to living out Drama Club’s core values in our programs: Yes…And, Love, Consistency, Making Your Scene Partner Look Good, Artistic Rigor, and Play.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Create safer, fun learning spaces in environments that are often chaotic and inconsistent
• Teach theater to hard-to-reach, sometimes resistant, young people while modeling positive engagement and supporting participant accomplishments
• Mentor young people in classrooms through the Transformational Relationships lens
• Co-teach in 2 person teams per site, which meet weekly for one and a half to three hours each
• Work with fellow teaching artists to develop lesson plans
• Nurture a strong ensemble while building student’s foundation in improvisation, character development, and story-making
• Collaborate with Director of Programs to develop and strengthen existing programs
• Contribute to ongoing program evaluation and research efforts to include the following:
• Formal written reports
• In-person program survey or needs assessment interview
• Build and sustain strong, productive working relationships with site staff
• Learn and follow rules and regulations of each facility
• Adhere to Drama Club guidelines & policies and to those of each facility, reporting any incidents or problems as outlined
• Report weekly with Director of Programs of any class concerns and/or successes
• Create a showcase of original scenes, every 10-12 weeks to present at facility Family Days, holiday shows, or other performance opportunities as facilities permit, through a consecutive 3-5-day “performance unit” rehearsal process
• Mentor and recruit candidates for Youth Apprentice program
• Participate in on-going professional development training to include but not limited to the following:
• Trauma-informed practices
• Positive Youth development
• Mentoring vulnerable and marginalized populations
• Utilization of Improvisation as a youth development intervention

DESIRABLE SKILLS & QUALIFICATIONS

• Cultural competency working with individuals from diverse backgrounds, particularly those from communities directly or indirectly impacted by the criminal justice system
• Knowledgeable about improvisation, theater techniques, and have a repertoire of successful theater activities, games, ability to create, and apply successful lesson plans
• Experience at guiding students to full-scale culminating presentations
• Ability to quickly forge connections with young people who have experienced trauma
• Ability to maintain a high level of flexibility and professionalism at all times including excellent time management and extreme reliability
• Curiosity in exploring Drama Club’s approach to improvisation and devised theater
• Experience working with youth in challenging, non-school settings including, but not limited to, jails, juvenile justice centers, group homes, and drug treatment programs
• Fluency in Spanish is ideal

PERSONAL QUALIFICATIONS & WORK ENVIRONMENT

Must be flexible and able to work in a fast-paced, non-profit environment. Must be willing and able to travel throughout New York City as the majority of work takes place outside of Manhattan. Candidates must be open to work a flexible schedule, including evenings and weekends. Must be willing to use personal equipment such as cell phone and laptop/tablet when completing reports and communications with the Executive Director and Director of Programs. Must be willing to undergo clearances/ background checks. Personal values align with the vision and values of Drama Club Inc.

DUE TO THE NON-TRADITIONAL CLASS SETTINGS, TO BE CONSIDERED FOR THIS POSITION YOU MUST BE AVAILABLE FOR A DEMO LESSON. During that lesson you will be assessed on your grasp of improv, your cultural competence, your classroom management style, how you reflect positive youth development principles in your communication and work, and your ability to collaborate with co-TAs.

SALARY

Teaching Artists will be paid $100 for each teaching hour plus $35/hr for extra meetings, such as monthly Teaching Artist training. Candidates will be engaged as part time employees with sick time, paid family leave and workers compensation benefits.

Note: Teaching Artists engaged in or assigned Drama Club related duties, outside of normally expected duties and responsibilities, must first receive billing authorization from the Director of Programs.

Teaching Artist hourly rate includes the following job related duties:

• Commute time
• Weekly check-ins with Program staff
• Session reports
• Communication with facility staff

If you are interested in applying, please send your resume and cover letter to ashley@dramaclub.org