SML Good Neighbors, Inc. - Intern Application

P. O. Box 2
Moneta, VA 24121
ph: 540-721-2581
director@smlgoodneighbors.org

Intern Application

Dear Friend,

Thank you for your interest in the Good Neighbors Summer Day Camp and our internship program. This is the first year for our Day Camp and we are excited to offer a great internship that we feel will be a life transforming experience.

We are an ecumenical group at Smith Mountain Lake who has a deep concern about the most vulnerable elementary age children in our area. They are children who receive free or reduced-priced school lunches during the school year but do not get these lunches during the summer. We also serve children who need assistance with reading skills. We provide lunches and reading assistance in addition to the Good Neighbors curriculum, which is values-based, emphasizing nonviolence, accepting diversity, compassion, honesty and integrity. These values are at the heart of all camp activities and are modeled by all of us working with the children.

Good Neighbors interns live together in the community and work as a team to implement the Good Neighbors curriculum. Interns share fellowship and meals with members of area churches during weekday evenings. An important part of our Good Neighbors team is the many volunteers who provide the one-on-one reading assistance and do numerous other tasks to make the camp an excellent experience for the children and the interns.

Before the camp starts the interns receive a full week of training in the Good Neighbors curriculum, class room management, CPR, first aid, etc.

The Good Neighbors Internship program is open to any one who is 18 years or older and has completed at least one year of college by summer 2008. A ten-week full-time commitment is required from June 7 through August 16. Interns will not be allowed to have other employment nor be enrolled in school (unless in a class that is part of this internship). Interns provide their own transportation and medical insurance. A background check will be conducted on interns and volunteers who have contact with the children.

The Smith Mountain Lake community is very rural, but offers all of the fun opportunities associated with a lake. The community immediately surrounding the lake is affluent and mostly retired. In the counties surrounding the lake there is a sizable low-income population from which we draw the children we serve.

We will be reviewing applications in March and April and will interview and offer positions to five individuals by April 15^th. We welcome your application. Please complete and submit by April 1^st.

Good Neighbors Internship Program

Application Form

Name_________________________________________________________________________

College _________________________________________Class __ Major _________________

Age____ Birth date___________ Marital Status______________

Street Address_________________________________________________________________

City_________________________________ State_______ Zip Code_____________________

E-mail Address_________________ Home Telephone Number _________________________

Cell Phone Number ________________School Telephone Number _____________________

College Address________________________________________________________________

City ______________________________ State ___ Zip Code ___________________________

Health Insurance_____________________________ Number __________________________

Using a separate piece of paper, please give brief answers to the following questions.

1. What is it about the Good Neighbors program that interests you?

2. List the volunteer, service or social organizations with which you have been involved and the nature or your involvement.

3. List any work experience that might help you with this position.

4. In the last 5 years, what book, music, movie, works of art or magazine has most affected you? Please list and provide a brief explanation.

5. What group living experiences, if any, have you had? How do you do in a group living situation?

6. What experience, if any, have you had working with children? With low-income or disadvantaged individuals?

7. What rural experiences, if any, have you had? What expectations would you bring to a rural living experience?

8. Because of limited space, our interns will need to share bedrooms. Are you willing to do this?

9. List any skills that you have in music, art, drama, sports or teaching. Do you have other skills or talents that you would like us to know about?

10. In what way do you see this internship helping you explore your vocational goals?

11. How do you resolve conflict?

12. The Good Neighbors curriculum is built around classical stories from the Bible and other sources that introduce Good Neighbors values. The curriculum also nurtures children’s spiritual natures without proselytizing. Will you be comfortable teaching this type of curriculum?

13. Do you foresee any thing that could prevent you from participating in the SML Good Neighbors Internship program (i.e. financial, logistical, time constraints, health)?

14. Have you ever been convicted of a crime including sex-related or child-abuse related offenses?

15. Please provide us with the names of three people who know you and are willing to write a letter of recommendation for you. We are especially interested in recommendations from professors, employers, and those who have supervised you in volunteer and service experiences (no relatives, please). Please include at least one of your professors. We will contact these people and ask them to send a letter of recommendation directly to us. We may also call them.

References:

Name___________________________________________________Title_________________

Phone___________ Relationship to you____________________________________________

Street Address________________________________________________________________

City______________________________State_____________________Zip_______________