Real-World Project Coach (Volunteer Opportunity)

About DeKalb Brilliance Academy: Designed with input from nearly 1,000 South DeKalb community members, we are a tuition-free, public Kindergarten-8th grade South DeKalb charter school approved to enroll grades K-2 in 2022 (adding a grade each year). Our vision is that each child will know and leverage their unique brilliance to critically analyze the world around them and to design a better and more equitable future (learn more about our founding journey here).

DeKalb Brilliance Academy: where the strength of our community nurtures the brilliance of our children.

Purpose of Real-World Project Partners: To achieve our vision, our school empowers students to be leaders through combining rigorous & relevant academics with social-emotional learning. We put all of this together through semester-long real-world projects, where students learn not only from their teachers and peers, but also directly from scientists, lawyers, engineers, designers, entrepreneurs, etc.

Because our students learn not only from their teachers and peers, but also directly from scientists, lawyers, engineers, and designers, our students’ relationships with not just their teachers, but also diverse community experts, will affirm that they can be leaders in any field they choose.

Because teachers partner with community experts to create semester-long projects that give students relevant experience connected to high-demand careers, our students will enter high school having worked with their peers to solve eighteen different complex projects in entrepreneurship, design, law, engineering, social justice, the arts, and more.

Because the same experts coach teams of students monthly and be in the audience to celebrate students' work at the end of the semester, our middle school students will have more experience collaborating with peers and presenting/receiving feedback on their ideas than most students entering college do.

Supports for Real-World Project Coaches:

• DeKalb Brilliance Academy will provide:
  • Free fingerprinting & background check
  • Training on giving feedback to children
  • Pre-created projects, feedback rubrics, and coaching session guides
  • Pre-launch planning meeting with classroom teacher to ensure you feel prepared
  • Coaching de-brief meetings after each student coaching session so we can improve your experience between each session
  • $500 stipend

Expectations of Real-World Project Coaches:

• Use specific expertise for the benefit of DeKalb Brilliance Academy students
• Complete semester-long term of service (e.g. Sept-Dec)
• Commit at least 2 hours per month to real-world project coaching:
  • month 1 = project launch
  • months 2-4 = coaching student teams
  • month 5 = celebration of student learning

Qualifications of Real-World Project Coaches.

• Purpose-driven: have deep reverence for the brilliance of our children and unwavering commitment to empowering our children to have impactful legacies in our communities
• Community-minded: has ability work collaboratively with peers and manage up to improve the work of everyone around them
• Emotionally intelligent: knows how to care for themselves, collaborate with others, use tools to regulate their emotions under stress, and approach difficult situations with others with empathy and compassion
• Equity-minded: understand how specific behaviors, laws, and institutions limit the rights and freedoms of people and work with our community to take collective action to make our world fairer for everyone.
• Expertise in field related to real-world project. Priority projects for semester 1:
  • Urban planners, landscape architects, & architects to coach student teams on designing a neighborhood park
  • Physicians, nurses & dietitians to coach student teams on a project to improve the health of the DBA community
  • Environmental scientists, ecologists, & animators to coach student teams on creating stories to communicate the changes our planet needs
  • Engineers (civil, structural, mechanical, geotechnical) to coach student teams on an engineering challenge

Not applicable - this is a voluntary position.