storytelling teachers wanted

The Written Out Loud Storytelling School is seeking several highly-qualified, charismatic storytelling teachers to begin work immediately, with the possibility of significant expansion in the coming months.

Our Written Out Loud afterschool storytelling program has found significant traction as a distance learning curriculum that kids love and look forward to every day.

Not only do our students love our classes, they love spending hours writing and creating for the rest of the day, brainstorming and swapping story ideas with their fellow storytellers all day long.

Our trademarked storytelling curriculum works flawlessly in a remote/Zoom environment, bringing together small groups of high-achieving creative kids from around the country who create original stories together based on the books, movies, and TV shows they love most.

Think of us as "School of Rock for storytelling."

Written Out Loud was first developed as an undergraduate seminar at Yale University, and then adapted for kids ages 8-17, where it has taken off. Creative kids from the most rigorous school systems in the country have loved and thrived in our program (NYC private schools, Fairfield & Westchester counties, SF/LA/DC suburbs).

TESTIMONIALS

“My son and his friends are having the best time creating the world that lives in their dreams. And they are becoming closer as a group as well, which is wonderful to see.” - Joy, NYC mom

“In a world of constant content consumption, we’re thrilled that our son is learning content creation.” - Vatsal, CT dad

(By the way, if you're not a teaching candidate, but you're a parent interested in registering your child for one of our afterschool or camp programs, register here.)

If you are a teaching candidate, read on.

JOB QUALIFICATIONS

Our storytelling teachers must be of the highest possible caliber, combining the following non-negotiable skill sets:

•TEACHING EXPERIENCE, AND A DEEP, LIFELONG LOVE FOR TEACHING AND MENTORING KIDS. This is the big one. If you love stories, but you don’t love talking about Roald Dahl's craftsmanship with a screen full of kids, this job is definitely not for you.

ROCK-SOLID KNOWLEDGE OF AND ULTRA-GEEKY BONE-DEEP LOVE FOR STORY STRUCTURE (lingua franca: Rowling & Riordan (the high priests of this realm); Tolkien & Lewis; Star Wars & Stranger Things; Spielberg & Lucas; Pixar & Marvel; Campbell & Aristotle). If you or someone you know is a Hollywood (or Hollywood-caliber) screenwriter or filmmaker with story-structure knowledge spilling out of your/his/her head, and is currently lacking filmmaking work in a pandemic-challenged environment, contact me. Even better, if you've been in the Hollywood rat race for years or decades, and you're looking to build and grow a more stable wing of your career, this could be a fit. If you're a film-, language arts, or screenwriting teacher with a bunch of hours to fill with private instruction, hit me up.

•UNFAILINGLY PROMPT, ORGANIZED, AND PROACTIVELY COMMUNICATIVE. Vital and non-negotiable.

•MODERATELY TECH-COMFY (i.e. you can self-manage a Zoom account, Google Calendar & Docs).

•MUST HAVE SIGNIFICANT WHITE SPACE ON YOUR CALENDAR, WITH A STRONG INTEREST IN GROWING YOUR TEACHING HOURS. We are looking for long-term partnerships and relationships with our teachers. Candidates with 15 consistently available hours will be given preference over those with five.

•MUST BE SEEKING LONG-TERM, PART-TIME WORK. The relationships we create with our storytelling students and families are designed to last for years. If you happen to have some free time now, but don’t see yourself teaching post-quarantine, or if you won't want to continue teaching if/when you land a show or a full-time gig, this is not for you.

•DO YOU HAVE A WIDE NETWORK OF PARENTS AND CREATIVE KIDS IN YOUR COMMUNITY? Our business is growing 15x/month based purely on happy kids and parents spreading strong word of mouth. Our ideal storytelling teacher is also a parent - or a friend of parents - with strong, trusted relationships with other parents, school systems, local creative organizations, drama clubs, etc. Our teachers are our brand ambassadors.

Finally, for extra credit:

•CAN YOU EDIT? i.e. are you facile with Premiere/Final Cut? This final point is not as essential as the ones above, but it is potentially a big plus.

If you, or someone you know, fits the bill on all or most of the above, I’d love to hear from you.

Please feel free to circulate this posting to highly-qualified and potentially interested candidates in your network.

If you are interested in applying, please write up a short but detailed email describing your qualifications, and send it to me at josh@writtenoutloud.org.

Thank you!

-Josh