Servant Leadership through College Interns

The Philadelphia Freedom Schools' vision is to create an excellent, physically and emotionally safe learning environment where children and adults integrate a love of reading and math with the need for cultural democracy, intergenerational leadership, and family alliances.

Philadelphia Freedom Schools™ summer programs are staffed by young-adults who serve as positive role models and mentors. Children learn by example the values of honesty and hard work, and the importance of investing in their community. The Philadelphia Freedom Schools program trains college-age young people to serve as Servant Leader Interns (SLI) who help to provide transformational summer experiences for youth all over the city of Philadelphia. SLIs are trained early each summer at the Philadelphia Freedom Schools Servant Leadership Training in child development, academic lesson planning, team teaching and facilitation, team building strategies, and positive conflict resolution. This inspirational training also trains college interns in social action skills, helping them become knowledgeable and confident advocates for children and families.      

After training and site placement, Servant Leader Interns (SLI) are responsible for summer curriculum delivery in PFS classrooms as well as serving as mentors to the two high school Junior Servant Leaders assigned to their classrooms. PFS classrooms benefit from a 3:10 student to instructor ratio. The SLIs are responsible for the day-to-day care and nurturing of the children, serving as facilitators in the classroom and as leaders of community outreach activities.      

Responsibilities include:

• Participation in all Philadelphia Freedom Schools sponsored orientations, trainings and preparation.    
• Delivery of the PFS Pathways Curriculum ™ to a class of no more than ten students for six weeks.     
• Set-up and breakdown of his/her classroom space, including securing and organizing the appropriate materials.     
• Construct and implement lesson plans.    
• Provide supervision and guidance to children and youth in grades K-12.    
• Write daily journal entries documenting students’ progress.    
• Mentoring of high school Junior Servant Leaders.
• Daily debriefing: Analyze and problem-solving as a part of a team as well as individually.

For More Information on Servant Leader Intern positions, please contact Daynell Marbury at dmarbury@cisphl.or