Volunteer

Become a volunteer

Beaverton Literacy Council is an all-volunteer organization helping over 500 adult learners from 50+ countries improve their English and connect to community. 

We hope you can join us for this school year! 

• To volunteer in '25/'26, please register here 

• If you'd like to talk about it first to understand more what it might be like, please contact LindaB@beavertonliteracy.org 

New BLC teachers will have extra opportunities this year to observe experienced BLC teachers in action and meet with a mentor teacher.

Please note: BLC volunteers must live or have lived extensively in the US. We ask for a minimum 3-month commitment, once or twice weekly.

On-line / In-person

Volunteers may teach once or twice per week, whether in a core or conversation class. 

BLC offers core classes twice-per-week

• Online on Zoom, mornings and evenings.

• Evening in-person: near the main Beaverton library 

• Morning in-person near the corner of Allen Blvd & Murray Road

• Morning in-person at North of Hwy 26, east of 185th.

BLC also offers conversation classes once-per-week online. 

What's required? 

Volunteers may be lead or assistant teachers. 

• Lead teachers create lesson plans, lead classes, track student progress to inform future lessons.

• Assistant teachers help model material, lead breakout rooms, assist as agreed to with the lead.

Volunteers need to be fluent, open-minded English speakers.  You don't have to be a grammar expert or have even have teaching experience, but you do have to love learning and helping others learn.

It's helpful but not required to have:

• Teaching experience of some kind

• Experience learning another language at any level

• Experience being an outsider

• Comfort with basic technology

Online teachers need a laptop or desktop computer with a stable wifi connection. (Sorry, tablets and phones don't work well for this.)

Training and support is encouraged and available for ALL volunteers: 

• Observe other teachers (required for new lead teachers)

• Communicate with a mentor teacher (required for new lead teachers)

• Attend August in-person all-volunteer workshop if possible.

• Attend roundtable workshops online 

• Use the textbook to guide lesson planning in levels 0-4

• Supplement lessons with BLC paid online subscriptions