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1. AmyP421
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   I am hiring a part-time activity assistant for a Japanese Academic Homestay program this summer. The activity assistant would need to be available between the dates of July 21st & August 10th. This would be a really fun position, ideal for a teacher or somebody who does not work during the summer.

   The activity assistant helps the program to run smoothly. As an activity assistant, you would be responsible for helping with airport transfers (on July 21st & August 10th), attending the host family orientation (June 21st) and the student orientation (July 22nd), attending and helping to plan the welcome and farewell parties for the students, and assisting with 8 half-day activities and 3 full day excursions. Admission to any activities will be paid, however the activity assistant is responsible for obtaining his/her own passport or enhanced driver's license for a full day trip to Vancouver, B.C.
   Ideally, the program assistant would also be able to host a student in his/her home during the 3 weeks as well.

   The activity assistant will receive a stipend of $500.

   The activity assistant must be at least 25 years of age and have a clean driving record as he/she will be responsible for driving rental vans.

   For more information about the program and for contact information, please see the program website at http://www.westseattlehomestay.weebly.com
   Please contact the program coordinator through the website for more information or to be sent an application.

   Posted 2 years ago #         

2. AmyP421
   Member Profile

   This position is still open if anybody is considering

   Posted 2 years ago #         

3. Bob
   Member Profile

   As a longtime practitioner of arithmetic, I couldn't help myself and added up the hours and days mentioned above. For the items not specified in hours, here are my guesses.

   airport transfers (2 at say 1/4 day ea.) = 1/2 day

   host family orientation (say 1/4 day)

   student orientation (say 1/4 day)

   attending and helping to plan the welcome and farewell parties for the students (2 at say 1/2 day ea.) = 1 day

   assisting with 8 half-day activities = 4 days

   3 full day excursions = 3 days

   Total = 9 days or 72 hours

   $500/72 = $6.94 per hour

   To make minimum wage, the assistant would have to work for less than 58.5 hours, and the last two items taken together total 56 hours.

   Maybe it's possible (but probably not) to complete all the other duties in 2.5 hours total, thus complying with minimum wage.

   Note: This does not appear to be a nonprofit oprganization.

   Posted 2 years ago #         

4. Sue
   Member Profile

   

   Bob, although I'm not involved in this organization at all, I noticed that the ad did not say "salary" but called it a "stipend" - if you look at the wikipedia definition of stipend at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stipend it explains the difference between that and salary, and why it would be so low.

   Posted 2 years ago #         

5. Bob
   Member Profile

   Sue, you're probably right. Compass USA isn't listed anywhere as a charity or nonprofit. They do seem to be a business. But they're based in the same state (Colorado) as AILI, a nonprofit with whom they have some sort of arrangement.

   Adults working as casual babysitters are exempt from minimum wage. Maybe teachers working as activity assistants are too.

   Posted 2 years ago #         

6. Bob
   Member Profile

   Curiously, AILI (aili.us) is not listed by the IRS as being eligible for tax deductible contributions of any kind. It describes itself as a nonprofit. But just try searching the IRS's data base for it. It's not in there.

   http://www.irs.gov/app/pub-78/

   Every other real nonprofit that I've looked for seems to be in there. I also searched an addendum of recent additions that haven't yet been updated to the IRS database, and they're also not in that. I'm sure it's just my own inability to find them, of course.

   Posted 2 years ago #         

7. Bob
   Member Profile

   OK, here we go. AILI is registered with the Colorado Secretary of State's office as a nonprofit corporation. My fault for confusing this with an educational 501(c)3.

   However, their charter says "this corporation shall not carry on any other activities not permitted to be carried on by (1) a corporation exempt from federal income tax under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code or (2) by a corporation contributions to which are deductible under Section 170(c)(2) of the Internal revenue Code."

   But they don't actually have that status with the IRS. Scratching my head here. Ah, maybe here's the thing.

   "Compass USA supports American International Learning Institute (AILI). We provide scholarship for four-week individual homestays to deserving American and International Students in cooperation with AILI and our partners."

   So the support takes the form of giving all or some of their clientele scholarships. Donors don't appear to be donating toward the scholarships. I'm still a little confused. Where does the donated support come from? My naive guess is that it might come from fees paid by affluent Japanese families.

   Anyway, it must all work out somehow. Just a little foray into the 501(c)(3), or actually in this case non-501(c)(3) world. Never mind.

   Posted 2 years ago #         

8. Bob
   Member Profile

   Just a note for the record. Compass USA turns out to be a for-profit corporation registered in Colorado. AILI was registered some years later by the same person who owns Compass USA.

   I'm all in favor of donating time to help the less fortunate, and have done so for what must by now add up to thousands of hours during my life. And all in all I'd have to guess that this, however wonderful it is for the visiting Japanese, is more of a business venture and really isn't aimed at the less fortunate. But it still does sound wonderful for the Japanaese students, and maybe the warmth and fuzziness of it all makes up for the possibly sub-minimum wage for the teacher (or whomever) being recruited.

   Posted 2 years ago #         

9. AmyP421
   Member Profile

   Compass USA is a for profit organization with a low profit margin that mostly goes to support AILI (American International Learning Institute). Every person in the Compass office has a true heart for promoting relationships between cultures & believes whole heartedly in the program goals. They desire to hire staff with those same passions. If a person is merely looking for money, this is not the place for them, though it is a little supplemental income. I am looking for somebody who would enjoy spending a few weeks this summer with some Japanese girls visiting the USA for the first time. Of course teachers & other school employees make more during the school year, but many would like a fun opportunity to make a little bit of extra money while they are off during the summer. I can say this because my husband is a teacher & would actually love to do the assistant position himself if we didn’t have children at home that he will be watching while I am with the students.

   When I was growing up, my family hosted students & it was an incredible experience that goes beyond the warm & fuzzy feelings. I learned so much about the Japanese culture, & my worldview was broadened each time I spent a summer with a different student. I agree that it would be reasonable to assume that they were from rich or “affluent” families, but they were actually just from your average, hard-working family. The fun times we had with them are some of my favorite summer memories. We still keep in touch with some of the students today. My parents volunteered our home because they wanted us to have that cultural experience & they couldn’t afford for our whole family to travel out of the country. Now I am a mom to 2 little boys, & I intentionally pursued Compass USA because I wanted to bring this program to W. Seattle so that my kids can have the same opportunity.

   Posted 2 years ago #         

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