Wellesley Home >> CWS Home >> Internships >> CWS Summer Stipend Program >> Wellesley Words on Wheels Internship

Wellesley Words on Wheels Internship

Eligibility:	Current first-years, sophomores, and juniors
Award:	$3,500
Deadline:	Check back in March 2008 for April deadline
Application:	Click here for application forms

Purpose

This fund provides students interested in promoting literacy with a substantive administrative and managerial experience working in conjunction with the Framingham Public Schools in Massachusetts.

Term

One year, late August through May. The internship requires a minimum of 350 hours of work per year, with peak work times in September/October and February.

The Program

Wellesley Words on Wheels (WWOW) is a volunteer program at Wellesley College designed to help kindergartners in the Framingham Public Schools whose early literacy skills are below grade level. The program helps to level the "playing field," so all Framingham kindergartners are ready to learn to read in the first grade. Over 70 volunteers travel in groups to the Framingham Public Schools for weekly reading sessions with their kindergarten Reading Buddies. All volunteers are required to attend a two-hour training session to learn how to help children with three specific areas--print awareness, letter recognition and phonemic awareness--that are proven predictors of early reading success.

Internship Description

The WWOW intern is responsible for all volunteer recruitment and management. She helps plan training and coaching sessions. She also works collaboratively with the Framingham Public School program directors. The program's success relies on the intern maintaining ongoing dialogue with the Framingham program directors and the Center for Work and Service. She assists with scheduling and corresponds with WWOW volunteers. She helps to ensure that all is running smoothly within the school sites. The intern should be familiar with the schools and their volunteers in order to be able to help with potential problems or conflicts.

The logistical portion of the job involves all functions necessary to recruit and train volunteers and develop and maintain the volunteer schedule. The internship entails making sure the volunteers are present, punctual, and appropriate in their roles as Reading Buddies. Using the Center for Work and Service community service vans as a primary resource, the intern ensures that every volunteer has transportation to her school site.

In addition to these responsibilities, the intern may choose to work with Framingham Public Schools program directors to identify opportunities for her personal development such as job shadowing or work/observation in the classroom.

Specific Responsibilities

1. Advertise via Web site, posters, FirstClass conferences, Student Organizations Night and other campus vehicles to recruit volunteers.
2. Send an email to participants from prior year to learn if they will be participating in WWOW during the year ahead.
3. Compile and distribute scheduling forms to interested students prior to, during, and after the informational meeting. Secure all names and email addresses of interested students and create an email distribution list.
4. Prepare informational folders for all WWOW volunteers, including organizing the elements, getting them copied, and stuffing the folders.
5. Help coordinate the informational meeting.
6. Gather and code completed schedules. Follow up will be critical in order to get all scheduling forms back in a timely manner.
7. Assist program directors with scheduling process:
   
   1. disseminate assignment/placement information to volunteers
   2. reserve vehicles through the Melissa Hawkins in the Center for Work and Service (CWS)
   3. reconfirm each volunteer's day, time, and assigned school with her
8. Help facilitate the training sessions by organizing the manuals, nametags, and other handouts. Send an email to the volunteers the day before to confirm attendance.
9. Collect volunteer evaluation forms; monitor attendance. Follow up directly with students who are not meeting their volunteer commitment/responsibilities.
10. Maintain WWOW conference on FirstClass.
11. Provide support; answer questions. Work with the Center for Work and Service supervisor to resolve any problems.

Time Commitment

Late August 2008 - May 2009. The internship requires a minimum of 350 hours of work per year, with peak times in September/October and February.

Eligibility

Any currently enrolled Wellesley College first-year, sophomore, or junior is eligible, provided that she will be studying on the Wellesley campus for the entire period covered by the stipend. Preference will be given to those students who are volunteering for WWOW or have volunteered for WWOW in the past.

Reporting Relationship

The WWOW Intern reports to the Wellesley College Center for Work and Service supervisor.

Application Requirements

All applications must include:

• a completed 2008-2009 WWOW Application Form;
• a current resume;
• a current transcript (may be unofficial);
• a one-page personal statement describing why it is important for the applicant to pursue this placement, and what skills and experience she will bring to the position.
  

Participant Requirements

In the spring before her internship, the award recipient must attend a mandatory meeting where she will sign a contract agreeing to complete 350 hours of work during the academic year, with peak work periods in September/October and February.

In the academic year following her internship, the WWOW intern will be required to:

• submit a 3 - 5 page essay that reflects on the internship experience;
• write a thank you note to the donor of the stipend.

Recipients are strongly encouraged to participate in the Tanner Conference, a one-day conference held each fall that celebrates the incorporation of students' off-campus learning experiences into their education. The conference will provide a venue for students to reflect critically upon, analyze and share their off-campus experiences with others in the college community through panel presentations, roundtables, and information sessions.

Stipend

A $3,500 stipend will be awarded to the recipient of the WWOW internship. The stipend will be distributed in two installments. The first installment of $2,000 will be made in October and the second installment of $1,500 will be made in March.

For more information contact Melissa Hawkins at the Center for Work and Service, ext. 2357.