AmeriCorps Reading Tutor

About Joyful Readers

Joyful Readers is committed to helping Philadelphia students gain the literacy skills they need to become successful, confident, and yes…joyful readers! Every year, we recruit a racially, culturally, and generationally diverse cohort of AmeriCorps tutors who provide high-quality, research-based reading tutoring daily to K-3 students in Philadelphia schools. The service of our tutors ensures that students in systemically under-resourced schools gain the skills they need to succeed in school, at work, and in their daily lives.

What You’ll Do

Joyful Readers tutors provide small group reading tutoring to students in kindergarten through 3rd grade. Our AmeriCorps tutors meet with 2 students at a time, making sure they can provide the attention students need to get caught up on critical reading skills.

Your service year starts August 29 with one month of full-time training alongside the other AmeriCorps tutors in your cohort. We dive deep into training you on how to build great relationships with students and teachers and become an effective tutor.

In late September, you will be placed in a Philadelphia elementary school until the end of May. You’ll provide half-hour sessions of reading intervention to 10-11 pairs of students daily, 5 days per week. Every week, you’ll meet with your literacy coach to get feedback and support. Throughout the year, you’ll have opportunities to collaborate with staff at your school and connect with the Joyful Readers tutors and staff serving around the city.

The Joyful Readers team is there to make sure that your service year is successful and effective. We’re here to support you as you help students learn to read!

Who You Are

Maybe you’ve just graduated from college, you’ve just retired, or you’re ready for a career change. Maybe you’re graduating high school and you’re ready for a real-world challenge. Maybe you’ve always been interested in education, but you want a chance to get your feet wet before exploring a teaching career. Maybe you just want a way to make sure that students who need extra help in school can get it.

We think a lot of people have the potential to be great tutors.

To be eligible to serve with Joyful Readers you must:

• • Be available to serve full-time August 28 through May 27
  • Be able to blend, segment, and manipulate sounds within words
  • Enjoy helping kids in grades K-3
  • Be at least 18 years old by August 15, 2025
  • Be a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident. Unfortunately, authorization to work in the U.S. is not sufficient and those with DACA status are not eligible at this time.
  • Have at least a high school diploma or GED
  • Have served no more than 3 terms in an AmeriCorps state or national program
  • Agree to complete a background check

Joyful Readers is an equal opportunity employer and our AmeriCorps program is open to all.

You will receive:

• • A $2,100 monthly living allowance (broken into two payments of $1,050 paid at the middle and end of each month)
  • An education award of over $5,000 that can be used to go to school or pay back federal student loans* upon successful completion of the service year
    • *Members who are 55 years of age or older when they begin service may gift the education award to child or grandchild. Members may split the award between two children or grandchildren.
  • Health and Dental Insurance Reimbursement (if needed)
  • Loan forbearance and interest accrual payments for qualified student loans
  • Childcare benefits paid by AmeriCorps (if needed)
  • The opportunity to earn graduate/undergraduate credits
• As part of their training, our tutors take a course in reading instruction accredited by Arcadia University. Tutors with bachelor’s degrees can earn 3 graduate credits by passing the course, fully paid for by Joyful Readers
• Tutors looking to obtain a Bachelor’s Degree in Education can enroll in WGU’s online program at no cost to them
  • A resume-building professional experience that provides experience in education, teamwork, data analysis, communication and more
  • Most importantly, the opportunity to change the lives of Philadelphia students!