school program staff

program leader

youth leader

tutor

soccer coach

Action Youth America

Initially, I found this job to be very rewarding, and the students across MUSD are generally kind and respectful. However, the management is deeply rooted in favoritism that creates a toxic environment. Those who don’t align with certain individuals are often overlooked and may even face backlash from my experience. There's also a fear surrounding MUSD ELO staff/directory specifically regarding how coaches and SC are treated. At my site, one individual related to one of higher-ups at MUSD has been allowed to neglect responsibilities like leaving items in the fridge for too long that they would spoil and permitting questionable behavior among students without facing any repercussions. 
If you stand up for the students and respectfully call out the unfair practices regarding resources and referee selections, it seems that speaking out can put you at risk of losing your job. Both MUSD and AYA appear to react defensively to any criticism when they ask coaches at the their  meetings if they have any questions, comments, or concerns, even when it concerns the safety and fairness of student activities from personal experiences and from what I witness as well. The job itself working with students collaborating with the school and teachers are so rewarding and truly wholesome and teaches you the work around a school setting and environment. The management really ruins it for you and puts a damper on the whole job.

Working for Aya was unfortunately a belittling experience.
From the beginning they make it well aware that you are truly replaceable and serve little to no purpose other than being a glorified babysitter. Workplace drama also seems to be another issue which is truly unfair to others that don’t participate in spreading gossip. Due to upper management things are really unorganized and it seems to me that many issues fall between the cracks and end up unresolved. Favoritism is truly a problem when it comes to working with AYA in the high desert. No matter how long you’ve been working with them, if they don’t like you they won’t promote you. Day to day it feels like you’re supposed to just wing it unless you run a sports activity. Depending on what site you’re placed at you’ll see other afterschool programs sharing the same campus as you, eventually you’ll see a lot of your former students switch to other programs due to the way program leaders are supposed to enforce drill/army like behavior. At the end of the day it just seems like everyone is there just for a check. 

I worked for this company for 2 years and a half. This company completely disregards the need of employees. Throughout my employment, I learned that favoritism is HUGE. If management does not like you, then I can guarantee they will make your life miserable. As someone who has seen multiple coworkers come and go, their reports are all the same. “I’m underpaid”, “ can’t work for a company that does not pay for holidays,” “management does not care”, and “I can’t stand my coworkers”.  This company may sound good at first, but please prepare for mindless training and messy work. Kids are not easy. And this company doesn’t make it any easier for us. Their rules for employees deny basic needs. If you really need a job please let this greedy organization be the last job on your list. I’m seeing some individuals on here saying they were paid for their time off! I worked there for 2 YEARS and NEVER once was I offered paid time off!!!!!  Disgusting greedy organization!! This shows the favoritism and their lack of consideration to other employees. Trust me, it is not worth the trouble. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
Well, the only good part about my experience was I had nice coworkers and if you enjoy working with kids or plan on it the job provides great experience to prepare you.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The management was ABYSMAL. Our manager did not know what they were doing. He was a very nice person, but unfortunately he could not handle basic communication with parents, the kids, even us. The people who hired him must have not paid any attention at all.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Chaotic and very unorganized. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
It wasn’t that bad if there weren’t too many kids. But with more kids our manager would get frustrated and not know what to do

A typical day at work started with a quick team meeting on lessons and activities. Most of the time it was very last minute. The leadership didn't have a solid vision or purpose. The students at the site I worked were spoken to fairly harshly. All be it they were also fairly harsh, I felt that more compassion and trauma informed leadership methods should have been in place. Many children in the area were foster youth, so programs like these should be an elevating place for them to develop their interests (sports, science, arts, gaming, etc.). Overall, daily I would feel a bit discouraged by the lack of direction from leadership and motivation of fellow program leaders and also treating the students like they were in the army. It seemed like most staff were there for the check.

I would not recommend working here due to experience, the site I was at had terrible management, they're not very considerate, they will overflow you with an amount of kids and most of the time you'll have more kids than anyone else. It gets overwhelming and stressful when you don't receive as much support as you'd like. The company would rather overflow the amount of kids than hire someone to help, makes no sense. On the other hand, the kids are so sweet and will teach you so much. Overall the site managers and coordinators are very inconsiderate, not flexible and I would save myself time and pass on this job. 

management is horrible. if you have an issue at your site and wanna report it to higher ups, dont bother because they're all friends so they do nothing about it. job responsibilities are unfair, they'll make you do everything they dont want to even if its not in your job description. they keep around unpleasant people who have multiple complaints about them because once again, they're all friends so they dont care. supplies are never bought because they're BROKE so you will always have to provide your students' supplies.

I loved working here I really did and to this day it breaks my heart I had to leave. However, the experience was amazing with the students only loved working here because of the bonds I created with the parents and students. 
Management isn't terrible but as time goes on there is a lot of sneaky and shady stuff that goes on and everything isn't what it seems. They do not value the work we do and us as people enough- definitely not paid enough for everything that we do.
 I often think about coming back but only because SOME of the staff I worked with and the kids. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
Nothing, it’s unorganized team leader are rude and stuck up

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Team leaders, payment, could be fired at anytime without reason 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Toxic, stressful, micromanaging 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
You are not allowed to take personal days/or vacations

For my site, the site director and environment were very welcoming and were always there to provide assistance when necessary, especially if you have no prior experience working with children. The only issue I had was the lack of schedule flexibility. If you are trying to take classes while working and schedules conflict, they will likely remove you from a permanent site and make you a substitute.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
School program staff 26 salaries reported	$19.94 per hour
Program leader 5 salaries reported	$19.10 per hour
Youth leader 2 salaries reported	$18.50 per hour
Tutor 1 salary reported	$19.50 per hour
Soccer coach 1 salary reported	$19.50 per hour

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