St. Anna’s Episcopal Church has combined its two major programs, St. Anna’s Medical Mission (SAMM) and Anna’s Arts for Kids (AAK), into a single program, Anna’s Place NOLA. Our goal is to provide more holistic services to our community.
Need for Help
Our program is funded strictly through donations and grants, which are becoming harder to get. We have four full or part-time staff and a few contract staff to develop, plan and implement a 4-day a week children’s after-school academic enrichment program, Saturday arts enrichment and health promotion children’s program, summer camp to continue the learning process and provide opportunities, and medical outreach program offering health screenings, education and services. Our program utilizes volunteers and service-learning programs in an effort to keep costs down while providing educational opportunities for college students. We see the potential for growth and improvement in our programs, but lack the financial support to provide the man-power to do it. The availability of interns would provide fresh eyes and ideas as well as the needed man-power to improve upon our programs, while providing the Intern with some “real-life” work experiences.
Proposed Project
Our full-day Summer Camp will be four weeks in duration, June 15-19, June 22-26, July 6-10, and July 13-17. There will be an orientation week June 8-12 for all staff and volunteers. We will offer a music program (instrument and voice instruction, reading music, music history), academic enrichment (reading and math), visual arts, swimming classes, field trips, nutrition, gardening, health and physical activities for approximately 50 children ages 5-14.
Our focus for the health classes will be health and grooming, but we’d like to include safety in play as well as basic first aid techniques for the older children. We envision the physical activity program including an exercise portion with pre and post-assessment (similar to the Presidential Fitness Program), games and sports.
Intern’s Responsibilities and Activities
The Intern’s responsibilities will include:
- Research and develop age-appropriate health education curricula for a 4-week summer camp program focusing on healthy grooming, safety in play and/or basic first aid for students aged 5-14.
- Attend Staff Orientation Week
- Teach health classes during the 4-week summer camp program (an assistant will be assigned to the class but may not be available until Orientation Week, may be a high-school or under-grad college student with little or no health background)
- Develop and utilize evaluation tools to determine the success of the health education program
- Create a manual of the curricula including learning objectives, methods of evaluating program, faculty instructions, a list of resources and supplies, and a copy of handouts and/or worksheets needed for each lesson that can be easily replicated
- Develop or assist to develop a physical activity plan for the 4-week summer camp program, including evaluation tools
- Instruct and supervise volunteers on implementation of the physical activity plan
- Report on the success of both the health and physical activity aspects of the summer camp program to be used for internal planning and in grant requests and reports
- Participation in summer camp staff meetings
In addition, part of the student’s time may include chaperoning field trips; monitoring students upon arrival, during lunch or during dismissal; being the second person in a vehicle transporting children; or assisting with other activities during the camp as needed.
With the responsibilities and activities outlined above the Intern should be self-motivated. Experience working with children is a plus; being able to control a child or classroom without becoming overwhelmed is necessary. Verbal communication, especially with children, is extremely important. Being able to commit to the schedule mentioned above and to do a lot of work in that short time frame is required.
The time-frame of 300 hours will be met approximately as follows:
- 60-75 hours in planning and preparation prior to Staff Orientation
- 30-40 hours for Staff Orientation and continued planning
- 160 hours for camp (4 weeks at approximately 40 hrs/wk)
- 20-40 hours for post-camp evaluation and reporting
To Whom the Intern Will Report
The Intern will report to Diana Meyers, BSN, RN for program development and implementation. While on-site at the camp the Intern will often be under the supervision of Darryl Durham, MM (Director of Arts and Community Engagement) in the absence of Ms Meyers.
Location of the Work
The program will mainly take place at Christ Church Cathedral at 2919 St. Charles Avenue. The gardening component will take place at 1509 Esplanade Avenue, a house St. Anna’s is currently leasing. The swimming component will take place at the North Rampart Community Center at 1130 N. Rampart Street. Field trips will be located throughout the Greater New Orleans region.
Is Car Needed
The Intern will need to provide their transportation to and from Christ Church Cathedral daily for the orientation week and during the 4-week program. Transportation during the hours of the camp may be arranged with the children’s transportation.
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Diana Meyers
Community Wellness Director
St. Anna’s Episcopal Church
1313 Esplanade Ave., New Orleans,LA 70116
phone: 504-947-2121
email: diana@stannanola.org
website: www.stannanola.org
