Spend the Spring Tutoring Refugee Students in Chicago!

General Position Description: Delivers cutting-edge High Impact Tutoring (“HIT”) to more then 100 formerly pre-literate SLIFE (Students with Limited or Interrupted Formal Education) refugee students in grades K through 12 from Myanmar, Afghanistan, Syria, and Bhutan. The goal is to ensure that educational gaps are filled and that the students catch up to grade level. This is an unpaid volunteer position.

Dates & Times: Our spring program will run from January 13th until June 11th, 2025. Volunteers must sign up for at least two 2-hour shifts per week (minimum 4 hours per week commitment). The shifts available are Monday-Friday from 4:30-6:30 p.m CT and 7:00-9:00 p.m CT.

Philosophy: We are a community, and we invest in each other every day. We want our volunteers to have robust experiences at FORA and to help them on their journey as they search for and discover their life calling. We elevate people who show talent and dedication, regardless of age or resume.

Location: The site of FORA’s empowerment center, 6435 N. California Ave, Chicago, IL, 60645. This is in the West Ridge neighborhood, known as one of the most diverse neighborhoods in the United States, with 43% of the population foreign-born, with 40 different languages spoken, and with more than 60% speaking a language other than English as their home language. It is a wonderful place to live or just to spend a semester.

Qualifications: As you will be teaching math and reading in English to preliterate students, you need to be able to fluently read in English. If you can read well in English, you have the educational qualifications for this job. We value patience, kindness, wellness, intercultural connection, a passion for learning and a determined resilience... and modeling these values for others. All tutors must undergo a formal background check to work with the children.

Recommendations and Awards: If you meet the necessary criteria, FORA will nominate you for a prestigious Presidential Volunteer Service Award. We also endeavor to truly get to know each of our volunteers so that upon completion of the program, we can write robust letters of recommendation for future jobs and grad school applications.

Application process and deadlines: Please apply through our online portal at https://app.betterimpact.com/Application?OrganizationGuid=f07e91bc-2d56-4b3a-84db-ca9522bdc96a&ApplicationFormNumber=1

Learning outcome #1: Volunteer will learn how to view and deliver educational services through a social justice lens that values not only solidarity but also subsidiarity and sustainability.

Learning outcome #2: Volunteer will learn how to implement High Impact Tutoring (HIT) strategies, a form of tutoring that has recently been recommended by numerous institutions to accelerate student learning.

Learning outcome #3: Volunteer will learn how to support and empower refugee students. Most of the students with whom we work are Rohingya students from Myanmar. The Rohingya have been subject to ethnic cleansing and/or genocide and have been identified by the United Nations as the most persecuted minority on Earth. However, they are also not only resilient but also highly motivated to obtain a robust education.