December 13, 2011

Good Job: Treehouse's Essence Batson

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Essence Batson's job is to help high-school students who are in foster care stay on track with their grades and attendance. Batson works for Treehouse, one of the nonprofits that will receive money raised by The Seattle Times Fund For The Needy. (Courtesy of Treehouse)

What do you do? I am a high school engagement coordinator [at Treehouse, a Seattle nonprofit that supports kids in foster care]. This means that I work in three different Seattle high schools (Franklin High School, Rainier Beach High School and South Lake High School) with their students who are involved in foster care. My job is to keep them on the right track with their grades and attendance, and preparing them for whatever their post-secondary choice will be.

What’s a typical day like on the job? There is no such thing as a typical day in this job. However, the majority of my time is spent in the schools meeting with students, tracking down attendance and grades, or in the office training, documenting my interaction and time spent on the youth, communicating with caregivers and guiding my intern. Then there’s everything else that happens in between!

What's the best part of the job? The best part of my job is seeing students persevere through all of the many obstacles that are thrown their way. I love to see a student come into their own and take control of their own success. My job is to encourage them to keep going. Seeing them grow and take steps toward their goals is enough to keep me going.

What surprises people about your job? That so much of the funding that enables us to serve our youth comes from private donors and not from corporations. Ninety percent of our contributions are not from the state, and 74 percent of that 90 percent comes from individuals. Our community is awesome, and vital to our success as a nonprofit. Thank you all!

--NWjobs staff

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Resumes and Job Hunt, career profile, non-profit

1 Comments

Pamila Gant on December 19, 2011 3:36 PM | Reply

Essence!

So good to see the work you are doing! Happy Holidays.
Pamila

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