Job Title: After School Counselor Company: YMCA – Cleveland Location: Cleveland, TN — 220 Urbane Rd NE, Cleveland, TN 37312 Type: Part-time (Monday–Friday, afternoon shifts) Pay: $14.00 per hour
Role Summary:
Provide supervised, structured after-school care for elementary-aged children. Shifts are every Monday–Friday, either 2:45 PM–5:45 PM or 3:15 PM–6:15 PM. Duties include implementing daily lesson/activity plans, supervising children and program activities, observing and evaluating each child, communicating with parents, attending branch events and trainings, and performing other assigned duties.
Highlights / Qualifications:
Immediate, predictable afternoon schedule — good for students or caregivers seeking consistent part-time hours.
Required: 18+ years old and a high school diploma or equivalent (one year of college preferred).
Preferred experience with elementary-aged children and with diverse populations; bilingual speakers (Spanish/Russian/Ukrainian/English) are a plus.
Physical demands include walking, standing, sitting, kneeling, bending, and lifting up to 50 lbs.
Employer: YMCA — established youth-service organization with structured training and community engagement.
Would You Take This Job?
This is steady, predictable part-time work with meaningful kid-facing impact and clear hours—great for someone who wants routine afternoon work and experience in youth services. Considerations: relatively low hourly pay and physical demands of supervising children. Would you take this job? Why or why not?
I did a similar YMCA shift and the 3:15-6:15 slot got rowdiest right after snack; having two quick no-prep games ready (silent ball and four corners) kept transitions smooth. Also ask about site ratios - when they were 1:12 it was fine, but 1:18 felt chaotic at pickup.
In the 3:15–6:15 block, I started using a big visual timer on the whiteboard set in 10–15 min chunks for snack, homework, and cleanup, and it cut the ‘how much longer?’ chatter to almost zero. Kids kinda raced the clock and pickup went smoother because transitions stayed tight.
Quick tip: I kept a laminated “choice board” of five low-mess stations and a rotating “helper of the day,” plus a call-and-response (“1–2-3, eyes on me”) to snap the group back without yelling; on rainy days, GoNoodle’s Indoor Recess set saved me (https://www.gonoodle.com). Small caveat: ask about staff-to-kid ratio and whether there’s a backup space when the gym’s booked — those two make or break the shift.