Wanting a position that doesn't often exist

[beachmouse]

How are your writing skills? If you can do grantwriting as part of your job, it's going to make you more marketable.

[uptown_urbanist]

Originally Posted by lkb0714

I know that makes me the naysayer here but you really should not be hoping for such a position in lieu of taking an actual job. Its great that you know you do not want to teach instead of finding out a few months in as so many people do, but you really need to pick a more realistic job goal.

No, you're not the naysayer here; I agree with this. It's important to be realistic, and there are jobs out there where the OP can help support kids in their extracurricular activities. Many such offerings are not run through the schools, but they still work with teens and often have relationships with schools. I have held jobs where I've worked closely with kids and teens (including teenage volunteer programs). There are many jobs of that nature out there -- they're just in the nonprofit sector, not in the school itself.

Back to the topic of fundraising: $800 might not be chump change to the kids (and it's not), but if you're trying to convince someone to carve out a job and you mention fundraising, they're not going to want to pay you to oversee bake sales.

I really would concentrate on a nonprofit, and wouldn't stay away from the "business side" jobs at this point, either; a year or so in the development office working with grant applications or processing foundation requests will be good experience for any future in the nonprofit sector, as the reality is that most of us working in the nonprofit world need to have a solid understanding of the ins and outs of the business side in addition to the passion and knowledge of the content/mission-driven side of things. In any case, I'd get a job for now and concentrate on that before making any decisions to go back to school. The time "off" won't hurt, and you'll be able to move forward with both a more robust set of experiences and skills, as well as have a better sense of what it is that you want to do in the future. You don't have to work in a school to work with (or to benefit) teenagers, and if your interests don't involve actual teaching you are better off investigating those other alternatives.

[Milleka]

Originally Posted by canyontothesky

I graduated from college with a B.A. (not in education) this year and am still struggling to figure out what I want to do in life. I'm not saying this idea is it, but I wanted to explore it, and that brought me here.

In high school, I was president of a few clubs and my interests lay in fundraising (bake and craft sales, etc) and directing others to achieve our club's goals (one year I organized a cancer awareness day with speakers and whatnot). However, I found that some clubs suffered greatly from lack of adult oversight. While Mock Trials were lead by volunteering (or maybe minimally compensated) lawyers, and Model U.N. had strong faculty support, other clubs had very low participation because of lack of structure and support. For example, as a junior, I resigned as co-president (there were about 5 of us) of the community service club because one of the senior presidents didn't really care to provide as many opportunities for the students as possible. She would more often simply select opportunities that fell into her lap even though I was saying I'd coordinate some new ideas I had. I had a vision of having volunteer opportunities going on every single weekend, which I could have executed, whereas she was content with a mere few days per month. In that case, there weren't enough opportunities to choose from -- sometimes certain things would have too much interest and students would be left out, or sometimes certain things wouldn't be of interest to particular students, leaving them to not participate, either. The advisor of the club had very little time to dedicate to paying any attention to us. To boot, he was the teacher who you had to ask to have a bake sale, no matter what club you were in, and he didn't seem as though he particularly wanted the job, or got anything out of it, that's just what he did.

I think we can all agree how important extracurricular activities are in high school. Firstly, for building the college resume. But secondly, I know for sure I'll remember the things that I chose to participate in, versus that English class I was required to take. And I think some schools have stronger programs for kids than others.

I think I'd be a great HS activities director, who oversaw things like clubs, fundraising, budgets, volunteering and other extracurricular activities. But this position doesn't seem to be a common one at many schools for obvious (budgetary) reasons, and if it does exist, either it is a position that is rarely vacant, or the qualifications vary greatly from school system to school system, so it would be difficult to get a position like that at this age, rather than as a 5-10 year veteran.

So I came on here for feedback to inquire about what the qualifications may be. Should I, for example, look into a masters program? Would I need experience in anything in particular? Has anyone on here ever had a position like this? Do school systems ever create jobs when they are approached by qualified (not me) individuals? In my search, I have seen on school systems' employment websites the specific mention of the fact that they have created a new position, so it does seem as though sometimes this does happen.

I'm really interested in secondary education, but not as a subject teacher. In my high school, there was a theatre director who did teach 1-2 classes per year, but his job was to organize and produce all 10-13 productions we put on per year, so that's an example of a somewhat solely extracurricular position. I don't want that position, but what I want is somewhat similar in scope.

Thanks!

These type of positions are on a volunteer basis to otherwise already overworked teachers to begin with... at least where I work. It's a great idea, but schools do not have the funding to support a position like this. Heck, my building needs to hire another science teacher but it's not in the budget. I do know that some larger districts have activities directors at the district level who work through the superintedent's office. They are in charge of scheduling for facilities and that sort of thing. You might check into something like that. But, honestly, if you have any other options available to you- don't get into education.

[joe from dayton]

Sounds like you need to work for non-profits. An MPA would be beneficial.

[canyontothesky]

Hey all -- I know the position rarely exists, which is why I really like the suggestions you all have offered, and I'd love some more. The best suggestion so far is toobusytoday's, "Some companies, have HR people that spend much of their time figuring out how to contribute- scholarships, money and employees time." That's more along the lines of what I'd rather do. Something about fundraising really rubs me the wrong way on a large scale. I feel like I'd be more likely to be the Salvation Army person ringing a bell to collect change versus soliciting great amounts of money from people. No clue why that is. I have no interest in grant writing, although I am a very strong writer. I really enjoy the concept of 'earning' a donation, like it was when I was selling cupcakes. I know that sounds too simple and that in the real world, foundations need much more money than that, but I like, for example, the way Pier 1 sold Komen fondation candles to raise money, or even a silent auction of really worthwhile items/services. However, I am not interested in or like the way that Yoplait says they donate $1 for every yogurt top sent back because it's a situation where they've already decided to donate $1,000,000 no matter what, it's a huge company, sort of like asking a rich person to donate $10k versus $5k... I don't know that I really enjoy the business side of nonprofit, I prefer the creative side.
Anyway I do enjoy the suggestions, so keep them coming. At one point I was heavily researching non-profit masters programs (oddly, UGA's program really appealed to me, though I know there are loads of better ones that seemed... too business-y?) and that may be what I end up doing, who knows. I've found it really hard to find the *right* NPO to volunteer with because the politics and attitudes at them vary greatly. Also here in NYC, the best NPOs have months-long waiting lists (for example Housing Works) to volunteer! Amazing.

[maf763]

You could try offering fund raising event consulting services to small non-profits like churches or religious schools for a cut of the take instead of charging a fee up front. You probably couldn't make a living out of it but it may be a part-time thing that satisfies your urges in this area.

[teachbeach]

How about something in 4-H, Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts or the YM/YWCA?~they often need people to oversee and train leaders, run programs for youth participants, grant writing, empowerment programs, bringing several community agencies together for a cause etc.