Volunteer
Become a volunteer
Beaverton Literacy Council is an all-volunteer organization helping over 400 adult learners improve their English skills. We hope you will join this meaningful work!
Please click here to register as a volunteer for fall classes. Most volunteer assignments will be made by mid-August, if not sooner. If you have questions, you may put them in the form or contact lindab@beavertonliteracy.org. Thank you so much!
Please note: Volunteers must be living in the US.
New volunteers
New volunteers may register above and are also invited to a new volunteer information session. Click here to see the dates and to register for an info session .
On-line / In-person
BLC offers online classes and in-person classes in Beaverton.
Evening classes are at 5150 SW Watson Ave, Beaverton, OR, 97005.
Three morning classes are at 13600 SW Allen Blvd, Beaverton, OR 97005
Two morning classes are at 17435 NW West Union Rd, Portland, OR 97229
What's required for volunteers?
Volunteers work as 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.
Either teacher tracks attendance, follows up with students who miss class, communicates as needed between classes.
All teachers are encouraged to attend teacher roundtable discussions and workshops.
Volunteers need to be fluent, open-minded English speakers. You don't have to be a grammar expert or have extensive teaching experience, but you do have to love learning and helping others learn!
It's helpful but not required to have:
Teaching experience (it doesn't need to be adult ESOL)
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 are not optimal.)
Training and support
Fall in-person all-volunteer workshops.
Mentor teachers for each class level
Monthly roundtable discussions
Individual mentoring as needed
Observe other teachers
Textbooks to guide lesson planning in levels 0-4
BLC paid online subscriptions
A few more details
Classes run from mid-September through late May.
We ask for a minimum 4 month commitment. Subs are available!
Volunteer options include morning & evening:
In-person classes (90 min-2 hrs per class)
Online classes (75 min per class)
Once or twice per week
See our holiday calendar here.
Volunteer resources
Teaching resources
See teacher training resources here (self-paced trainings, videos, workshops, and tech help including Zoom, WhatsApp, Wordwall, etc).
Increasing impact with assistant teachers (a short presentation)
Resources by level and Ventures unit. (These documents are works-in-process.)
BLC Teacher Resource Bank (searchable)
All Beaverton Literacy Council students and instructors must be at least 18 years of age. With that exception, the BLC does not and shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, gender expression, age, national origin, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status, in any of its activities or operations.