Everybody Deserves Music is an after-school program taking place at the Los Angeles Leadership Academy Middle School in Lincoln Heights, a historically underserved neighborhood near downtown Los Angeles. We aim to serve the needs of our students by providing academic tutoring and homework help as well music instruction.
The lead music instructor is responsible for planning and implementing a music curriculum for a class of about 20 middle school students (6th, 7th and 8th grade). The program takes place EVERY DAY during the after-school hours: 3:00-6:00 M, T, Th, F, and 1:30-6:00 on Wednesdays. Applicants must be available every day during this time frame, and must have 3-4 hours per week available to plan or meet with other staff members (this might not always be necessary, but is especially important during the first 3 months).
The instruments we currently have are: guitar (acoustic & electric), bass guitar, piano, drums, keyboard, trumpet, saxaphone, and flute. Students receive a mix of one-on-one and small group instruction in any of these areas.
Every day, we strive to have 3 adults on campus: 2 paid staff members (a music teacher and an academic tutor) and one volunteer, allowing us to keep or student:teacher ratio at no more than 7:1 (it almost always ends up being smaller groups than this). Volunteers come from a variety of backgrounds. Some have teaching experience and some don’t, so in some cases you may be responsible for providing guidance to volunteer music teachers that need it.
Because the program takes place after-school, student attendance is completely voluntary, and can at times be inconsistent. This is usually due to circumstances beyond the students’ control. The music instructor needs to be flexible and patient in accommodating our students and their various needs/schedules. We also have a very mixed-ability group ranging from students that have never picked up an instrument to those that have been playing for years.
Before applying, please take a look at our website: www.everybodydeservesmusic.org and our youtube channel to see what previous teachers have done for our kiddos: https://www.youtube.com/user/EDMLALA/videos
Qualifications:
Previous teaching experience required, experience working with children/adolecents from low-income backgrounds is preferred but not necessary. Proficiency in guitar, bass, keyboard and drums and able to create arrangements for pop/rock ensembles using these instruments or more (please see youtube channel).
Bachelor’s Degree or higher in any field of study.
Passion for bringing arts education to schools, particularly those in underserved neighborhoods.
Flexibility – we need to adapt to needs of the school and our students. Challenges in the past have included limited classroom space, changes in scheduled performances, and inconsistent attendance. This program does NOT run like a traditional classroom where all students enter and leave at the same time and follow the same curriculum. Some students have situations that do not allow them to come every day…sometimes students might arrive as late as 4:15 because they have to stay with teachers for tutoring or complete missing assignments. Students are at various levels, from no experience to those entering our program for the third year. We must be able to adapt curriculum to the varying needs of our students in order to meet ALL of their needs on an individual basis.
How to apply
Send resume and brief cover letter (it can be in the body of the e-mail) to: jenny@everybodydeservesmusic.org