YMCA of Austin

Why Your Role Matters

As a Youth Programs Instructor at the Greater Austin YMCA, you will play a crucial role in shaping a positive and engaging environment for children to grow, learn, and explore. Whether leading activities in childcare programs, teaching cooking and nutrition, facilitating STEM projects, or guiding dance lessons, your responsibilities will include developing and implementing fun, educational curriculums, ensuring safety, and fostering social, emotional, and intellectual development.

How You Will Make an Impact

• Provide consistent, high-quality care by maintaining a safe, welcoming, and organized environment, ensuring that all children feel valued and comfortable.
• You will always be responsible for supervising children, addressing safety concerns promptly, and adhering to all safety protocols.
• Plan, prepare, and lead engaging lessons and activities for children of varying ages and skill levels, foster creativity, teamwork, and learning across various subjects such as dance, cooking, STEM, and arts.
• Maintain open communication with parents and guardians, providing updates on their child's progress, addressing concerns, and fostering a strong relationship.
• You will collaborate with fellow instructors and YMCA staff to ensure program success and consistency.
• Effectively manage classroom behavior by promoting respect, positive participation, and teamwork.
• Represent the YMCA's mission, vision, and values in all interactions with participants, members, and staff.

What You Bring to the Y

• Minimum of 16 years old.
• Previous experience teaching or working with children in a recreational or educational setting is preferred.
• Strong communication and organizational skills, with the ability to engage and motivate young learners.
• Creativity, patience, and a genuine enthusiasm for cooking and working with children.
• You have a growth mindset - You quickly learn from failure and value feedback in the effort to continuously improve.
• You are a team player - You are a team player with a positive, service-oriented attitude and you can work well with others.
• You communicate effectively - You listen for understanding and meaning. You speak and write effectively.
• You are customer focus – You build good customer relationships and deliver customer-centric solutions.
• You foster a culture of inclusion and belonging - You leverage people’s differences as strengths.

Work Environment

The Youth Programs Instructor position at the Greater Austin YMCA involves working in a dynamic and engaging classroom environment, facilitating various youth programs. This role requires working with children in both indoor and outdoor settings, preparing lesson plans, and ensuring a safe and fun atmosphere. Instructors must be comfortable handling various program materials and tools, as well as

ensuring the safety and well-being of all participants. Shifts include afternoons, evenings, weekends, and holidays to accommodate program schedules.

Physical Requirements

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand, walk, and use hands to handle or feel cooking equipment and ingredients. They must be able to lift and/or move items such as pots, pans, and boxes of ingredients weighing up to 25 pounds. The role also requires the ability to taste and smell to ensure food quality and safety. Effective verbal communication is necessary for instructing and engaging with children and their parents in both normal and occasionally noisy conditions. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions. Standard of class operations and kitchen maintenance.