Youth Engagement Coordinator

Job Title: Youth Engagement Coordinator

Reports to: Director of Youth Learning and Engagement

Position Type: Part-Time (25 hours/week), benefits-eligible

Hours: TBD in coordination with Director of Youth Learning and Engagement; during the school year, hours will include Sundays from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and Wednesdays from 3:30 to 7:00 p.m.; occasional overnight trips and weekends also are included in the hours; specific hours during the week change over the summer months, but this is a full-year position.

Our organization: 

Congregation Rodeph Shalom (RS) is a vibrant Reform community in center city Philadelphia. It has grown to become the largest Jewish congregation in the region.  We are a fast-paced, mission-driven workplace, and we welcome employees who strive for excellence. 

Our congregational vision: Immersed in Jewish time, guided by enduring values, compelled to moral action; we create profound connections.  Our full Vision Statement, together with our Israel Vision, Equity, Inclusion & Diversity Statement, and our Statement of Workplace Culture Principles, is at the bottom of this Job Description. 

Our mission for RS youth is “Jewish friendship and learning,” intentionally in that order.  We have a thriving religious school, which includes a culture of teen participation through 12^th grade that has grown significantly over the past decade, and we seek to continue that growth and connection for teens in 8^th grade through 12^th grades.

The Youth Engagement Coordinator will support our teen work in a way that is aligned with the congregational vision and the RS youth mission, thus helping RS to realize its full potential as a sacred community; and works with the Director of Youth Learning and Engagement (Director) to create a profound and welcoming environment for children and teens in our congregation. 

Position Summary

The Youth Engagement Coordinator is responsible for leading the Bamidbar program on Sunday mornings and for creating meaningful connection opportunities for pre-teens and teens at RS, in close collaboration with the Director of Youth Learning and Engagement.

Teen engagement at RS is centered on our Sunday morning programs for students in 8^th through 10^th grades (which we call Bamidbar) and in 11^th and 12^th grades (which we call D’varim).  These programs combine social, religious, and academic engagement, with the goals of (1) helping our teens begin to construct their own Jewish lives; (2) building on the Jewish identity formation and learning they experienced in younger grades; (3) strengthening their sense of connection to the congregation and to the Jewish people, and (4) preparing them to be Jewish in a complex world. These goals will inform the way the Youth Engagement Coordinator executes all their duties.  RS also runs various travel experiences and youth group events for students in grades 3 through 12, and the Youth Engagement Coordinator is the primary person responsible for planning, managing, and leading those travel experiences and events.

Specific Responsibilities

The categories of responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following:

Youth Engagement Program Administration

• Create calendar of youth event and travel, in consultation with the Director.
• Plan for all youth events, programs, and trips, including:
  • Budget
  • Registration forms
  • Reservations
  • Program outlines and itineraries
  • Plans and logistics
  • Staffing
  • Purchasing materials and supplies
  • Parent communications
• Run youth events, programs, and travel experiences, either independently or in conjunction with the Director and other staff, as appropriate and needed

Teen Curriculum, Lesson Planning, and Teaching

• Collaborate with Director in writing and editing curriculum for the RS religious school teen program
• Write weekly lesson plans for teen program
• Act as lead teacher for teen program on Sunday mornings
• Communicate regularly with parents concerning teen program
• Recruit teens to participate in teen program

Other

• Participate in regular Education Department meetings
• Participate in and support the functions of the Education Department
• Support efforts to enroll congregational children and teens at camps run by the Union for Reform Judaism, including but not limited to Camp Harlam
• Assist Director in leading youth services for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur
• Support additional holiday programming, as needed
• Assist with Hebrew program on Wednesday afternoon, as needed

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree
• Strong proficiency in Microsoft Office products (Outlook, Word, PowerPoint and Excel)
• Experience working with teens and/or youth
• Excellent communication skills, including writing and speaking
• Strong interpersonal skills
• Ability to work cooperatively and independently
• Strong organizational skills
• Collegiality and ability to cooperate with colleagues
• Basic familiarity with Reform Judaism and Jewish tradition

Salary and Benefits

• Compensation is $50,000/annual
• 403(B) contribution at 6% of compensation after one year (employee match not required)
• Medical insurance and Health Savings Account, paid by employer after 90 days
• Paid time off, based on tenure with the organization

If you are interested in applying for this position, please apply via JewishJobs.com or send your resume and cover letter via email to Jennifer James, Director of Youth Learning and Engagement at [email protected].  Congregation Rodeph Shalom is an Equal Opportunity Employer and will not take into consideration the race, gender, age, ethnicity, religion, disability, sexual orientation, (or any other protected class) of any applicant for this position. For more information, visit our website at www.rodephshalom.org. 

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Important information about our Congregation:

Congregation Rodeph Shalom Vision

Immersed in Jewish time, guided by enduring values, compelled to moral action, we create profound connections.

Immersed in Jewish time
 Sustained by the sacred rhythms of the Jewish year, pivotal moments of the Jewish life cycle, and generations of Jewish history, we are part of something greater than ourselves. Living in Jewish time teaches us how to express meaning in the everyday, to gather as a community, and to walk with each other through the joys and sorrows of our lives.

Guided by enduring values
 The timeless wisdom of our tradition inspires our intentional quest for truth, righteousness, and purpose amid the uncertainties we face in our world. We dedicate ourselves to Judaism’s ethical messages to treat each other with loving-kindness. The faithful, the skeptic—and those who perceive God in different ways—wrestle to renew the teachings of Torah for our present and the future of the Jewish people.

Compelled to moral action
 In a broken world, we commit to be a voice of conscience and to engage in the work of social justice. From our doorstep to our neighborhood and beyond, we welcome the stranger and embrace our responsibility to connect with and learn from others.

We create profound connections
 We seek meaning in shared experiences and cherish our diverse perspectives. We who are new to synagogue life or have extensive Jewish backgrounds; we who are Jewish or who share our lives with Jews; we who live within different family constellations, who are of all abilities, gender identities, sexual orientations, races, and generations: we enter the synagogue to celebrate, to learn, to laugh, to heal, to pray, to challenge ourselves, and to connect with others about the deepest questions of our lives.

Our Board of Directors’ Israel Vision, Inspired by Our Commitment to Reform Zionism

We pray for the hostages–for an agreement that will bring them home and bring an end to the war.

We are dedicated to engaging in conversation to share and to listen to each other about what matters to us, to expand our understanding, discover areas of disagreement, and uncover possibilities for common ground. We recognize and value the presence of congregants who hold a multiplicity of views. 

Devoted to Jewish Peoplehood and a democratic Jewish homeland, we affirm Israel’s right to exist as an expression of a millennia-long dream. We are committed to pluralism and civil rights for everyone living within Israel, including progressive Jews, ethnic and religious minorities, and all marginalized identities. We look to the future and hope for the shared liberation of two countries side by side for Israelis and Palestinians. Only when that day comes can Israelis and Palestinians be truly safe, free, and whole. 

Congregation Rodeph Shalom EID

The Equity, Inclusion & Diversity Task Force, mindful that its initials, EID, form the Hebrew word “witness,” inspires the Rodeph Shalom community to act with loving accountability toward each other, by treating every person –clergy, staff, congregants, guests and neighbors—with honor, respect and dignity.

To fulfill our congregational vision—immersed in Jewish time, guided by enduring values, compelled to moral action, we create profound connections--we re-examine our physical environment, communications, actions we take or refrain from and the policies and practices we uphold. Pursuing a Jewish future that is multiracial and multicultural, and ensuring Jewish renewal and regeneration, we are Jews of color, interfaith families, individuals seeking Judaism, persons on the margins of Jewish life, and every race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, body size, income level, physical, mental or developmental ability and family structure.

Congregation Rodeph Shalom Workplace Culture Principles (A Work in Progress):

Our professional team is dedicated, appreciated, and makes the pursuit of our vision possible. To reflect our values and strive for a positive workplace, we aspire the following traits/middot:

• Partnership/Chaverut – Every member of the staff is a valued part of a team. Our work is meaningful and challenging, and none of us is alone in it. We aim to nourish a culture of collaboration, a sense of belonging, and an openness to ask for help. We work together in the synagogue, and we honor the need for flexibility when personal needs and challenges arise. We support, care about, and learn from each other.
• Respect/Kavod – We treat each other and all professional roles with respect, especially in tone of communications, bringing perspective, behaving ethically, avoiding speaking about other people or pointing out mistakes in front of others, and practicing patience.
• Gratitude/Hakarat Hatov – We recognize the good in each other’s work and each other’s presence, practice positive reinforcement, and lift up gratitude.
• Fairness/Tzedek – We aim to treat each other fairly, both in regular interactions and in equity in compensation. We recognize that none of us is immune from being limited by our own biases so we work to better understand bias so it does not guide our words and actions.
• Balance/Izun – We honor boundaries by encouraging staff to work only during their hours and by refraining from calling or texting staff outside of their work hours or during vacation.
• Deliberation/Zehirut – There is intention in our choices and a focus on the way our actions make people feel. We aim to plan ahead when possible to contribute to a calmer and less stressful work environment. Intentional time management helps us avoid attempting to multi-task and helps us remain present.
• Responsibility/Achrayut – With professionalism, we are accountable for tasks, for supporting for each staff member, and to provide clarity about goals and what is needed to accomplish them.
• Forgiveness/Chemlah – We are all human and make mistakes. We do not need to cover those mistakes for fear of blame; rather we can turn to one another for learning, repair, and growth.
• Trust/Bitachon – We aim to help staff feel supported and resist micromanagement because we trust our staff’s capacity to work hard, use sound judgment, produce results, be resourceful, protect confidentiality, and ask for help when needed. We aim for our trust to inspire standards for product with flexibility for process.
• Commitment/Chasidut – We care about RS – its vision, congregants, staff, future, and its contributions to the Jewish People and the Philadelphia community.
• Candor/Yosher -- We aim to communicate directly and honestly to increase clarity and foster growth.
• Hope/Tikvah – We live in a difficult world and we do difficult work. We bring an attitude of positivity, openness, joy and perseverance to the work, we affirm our history but are open to change in order to move forward, and we do not give up.