Finish Strong Wellness Center is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that serves youth and young people in the City of Poughkeepsie. The goal of Finish Strong is to increase youth and young people’s physical, social and emotional well-being by creating supportive conditions that allow participants to build resiliency, self-determination, and achieve their full potential. All services provided are FREE to all our participants. Our program is built on The National Wellness Institute’s Six Dimensions of Wellness:
- Physical: A healthy body through exercise, nutrition, and healthy lifestyle choices.
- Emotional: The ability to identify, express, and regulate feelings while being aware and respectful others feelings.
- Social: Connecting and interacting with others, building healthy relationships, and contributing to our communities.
- Intellectual: Engagement with the world through learning, problem-solving, creativity, and play.
- Vocational: Mastery of skills, goal setting and achievement, and self-direction
- Spiritual: Developing a positive racial and ethnic identity, and finding meaning and purpose in one’s life.
Location: 29 N. Hamilton Street, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601
Project or Position Title:
Educational Programming Intern
Project or Position Description:
The Community Fellow will work closely with Finish Strong to survey the work done by others in the areas of increasing youth’s social and emotional well-being and helping to strengthen resilience in afterschool programming for youth. The student will support the work of the Executive Director and take the lead from him with regard to the topics he would like us to pursue – using a participatory action research approach to our work . This could include developing a survey to share with the parents who bring their children to the program as a way to design programming that meets their needs and the needs of their children.
Summary of Duties and Responsibilities:
- Provide assistance with academic support
- Provide assistance with emotional support
- Develop and supervising arts and crafts activities
- Develop a computer lab/ tech program
Specific Skills/Experience Required for the Project:
- Spanish language proficiency
- Experience working with young people
Mentorship Opportunities from Organization:
- The creation of curricula to address the needs as identified by the Executive Director.
- An introduction to qualitative research methods and participatory action research.
- Mentorship in teaching approaches, the importance of instructional language and the creation of safe and inclusive learning environments.
Time Commitment:
- Fellows should expect to be available during the organization’s work hours.
- In some cases, fellows might be invited to participate in events over the weekend/ evenings.