Youth Engagement Professional
Temple Shir Tikva, Wayland, MA
Are you passionate about working with children and teens and looking for a supportive community where you can grow as a professional? Temple Shir Tikva is looking for an enthusiastic, caring, and collaborative professional to join our team!
About This Role
The Youth Engagement Professional will be an invaluable member of our K-12 Team, and will be supervised by the Assistant Director of Education, who is committed to supporting personal and professional development.
The responsibilities of the role are as follows:
- Serve as primary TSTeen (Grades 7-12) engagement professional, including:
- Staffing all teen and youth social programs, as designed and scheduled by either teen leadership or the Engagement professional(s). Events typically occur on the weekend and may require overnight attendance
- Planning, staffing, and publicizing teen travel programs, including annual Grade 9+10 New York City trip and 12th Grade RAC L’Taken Seminar to Washington D.C.
- Planning, staffing, and publicizing our T3 (Team Teen Tikkun) monthly social action program for Grades 8-10 teens
- Managing teen leadership development, including supervising STIFTY Youth Group leadership board
- Managing and implementing annual Purim Carnival
- Maintaining involvement with NFTY-Northeast Regional Youth Group and attending some events as a chaperone
- Doing organized outreach to students who are not yet involved in TSTeen
- Cultivating one-on-one relationships with teens
- Staffing Grade-based TSTeen Shul-ins
- Development and implementation of Moving Traditions monthly program for teens, potentially in partnership with another local organization
- Connecting with other community partners for teen opportunities and supporting the work of regional partners, such as the Jewish Teen Initiative of Boston
- Serve as primary K-6 social program professional, including:
- Planning, implementing, and staffing of social programs for grade 3-6 participants, at least 5-6x/year, including communications to families and interfacing with third-party vendors. Events occur on weekends and may require overnight attendance
- Developing and implementing K-2 social programs, at least 2x/year
- Staffing annual Grade 6 Shabbaton at URJ Eisner Camp
- Serve on K-12 Learning Team including:
- Teaching in our Hineini (K-6 learning) program on Sunday mornings and Wednesday afternoons
- Teaching in AISH, our weekly teen community and learning program on Wednesday nights
- Attending K12 Faculty and Madrichim Professional Learning (5x/year)
- Attending monthly ‘First Friday’ Shabbat service and dinner for children and their families
Skills and Qualifications:
You are someone who is…
- Patient and kind with children and colleagues
- Receptive to feedback and compelled to take initiative; someone who works well on a team
- Flexible, creative, collaborative, and calm under pressure
- Prepared to work on weekends and some holidays
- Comfortable in a Reform synagogue setting (including knowledge of Jewish practice and holidays and inclusive of Jewish+, LGBTQ+, and Jews of Color families)
You are someone who has…
- A genuine appreciation for children and teens
- Experience designing and implementing experiences for others
- Experience managing a budget
- Bachelor’s degree preferred
- Previous experience in Jewish community (synagogue, Hillel, Jewish summer camp) required
Salary and Benefits
- Salary $45,000-50,000, based on experience and qualifications (full-year)
- Two weeks paid vacation
- Federal and Jewish Holidays (excepting those when events are scheduled)
- 10 days sick leave, 2 Personal Days
- Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance
- 37.5 hour work week (including some weekend work)
- Professional Learning stipend
Start date: June 1/July 1, 2025 (negotiable)
About Temple Shir Tikva
Temple Shir Tikva is the leading synagogue in Boston’s MetroWest, a thriving community that is home to 600 member families of all generations providing them with a nurturing, engaging and warm community to call their own. We have a strong commitment to all members of our community, across the ranges of faith backgrounds, gender/sexuality, race, and culture. Our membership is growing, our program is expanding, and we are looking to strengthen our fabulous professional team.
Over the past few years we have invested heavily in the professional team we have put together to ensure that there is a real sense of collegiality, collaboration and cooperation, so people enjoy coming to work and supporting one another, and to create opportunities for growth and development.
About Our K-12 Program
Children and teens at TST have a rich variety of opportunities for Jewish learning and engagement. We believe that relationships are the foundation of community and investment is at the heart of engagement.
Hineini: Grades Pre-K to 6:
Our middot (character trait) curriculum uniquely positions learners to discover meaning and relevance within Jewish traditions and practices and their modern lives. Classroom experiences are guided by the principles and competencies of community-building, and, within the middot framework, include Torah and Jewish text, holidays, Israel, Jewish literacy, Hebrew decoding, t’fillah (prayer), family learning, and STEM.
TSTeen: Grades 7 to 12:
At Temple Shir Tikva, we deeply value the voices of our teenagers and believe strongly in letting teens direct and design their own experiences. The multiple entry points of our TSTeen program seek to serve teenagers with the ability and opportunity to be involved in Jewish community in a way that fits their needs.
How to apply: Please send cover letter and resume to Alison Weikel, Director of Education, at [email protected]