Sister Cities Association of Springfield, Illinois

The Sister City Teaching Program for Assistant Language Teacher 2024

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Application Deadline:  Friday, March 8th

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DownLoad Application Form (Save form to your device and rename)

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This position is open to individuals with at least a Bachelor’s degree (by the time the contract begins) who have a Springfield, IL connection (birth, residence, education, etc.).  It is a one-year appointment with the possibility of two, one-year extensions.  The contract begins in July..

Applications should be submitted to Sister Cities Association of Springfield through the Association’s mailing address:

P.O. BOX 1474

Springfield, IL 62704

(hard copies and signatures are needed as some of the material may be used by the Ashikaga Board of Education to apply for the government documents used to apply for the teaching permit)

Details

This sister city program promotes English language education in Ashikaga and mutual understanding between Japan and the United States through international exchange opportunities between Springfield and Ashikaga citizens. 

The Ashikaga Board of Education has been working with the sister city associations of both Springfield and Ashikaga to bring teachers from Springfield to teach in the public schools in Ashikaga.  The position of Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) is offered through a one-year contract that can be renewed twice.  

We expect that the participants will fulfill the responsibility of broadening international understanding as representatives of their nation with pride, and we hope that persons who are highly interested in intercultural interaction, will apply for the program.

1. DUTIES

The Sister City ALT will be allocated to a junior high school in Ashikaga. The following are duties of an ALT.

a) To assist Japanese teachers for their English classes, and education for international understanding at the junior high school.

b) To assist Japanese teachers for their English activities and education for international understanding at elementary schools.

c) To assist the preparation of English teaching materials.

d) To assist training seminars for Japanese teachers.

e) To cooperate with Japanese teachers in special and extra-curricular activities of elective subjects.

f) To provide linguistic and cultural information to the officers and the Japanese teachers in charge of English subject.

g) To assist in holding the city’s English speech Contest (Gettysburg Speech Contest.)

h) To assist sister city related businesses for Ashikaga, such as preparation for international exchange programs, editing or preparing correspondence to be sent to Springfield and acting as an informal liaison between Ashikaga and Springfield.

i) To assist international exchange activities carried out by various local groups.

j) Other duties directed by the school principal or Ashikaga Board of Education. 

2. QUALIFICATIONS

Applicants must

a) Be both mentally and physically healthy.

b) Be able to work and adjust to the environment in a foreign country.

c) Be legal residents of the United States and be from Springfield or surrounding area of Springfield.  

d) Hold at least a Bachelor’s degree or be expected to obtain one by the beginning of the employment in Japan. 

e) Have not only excellent English pronunciation, rhythm, and intonations but also good skills of writing and grammar usage of standard modern English.

f) Be interested in education in Japan especially in English education.

g) Be interested in working actively with students. 

h) Be persons with a teaching license, those who have studied the education of English as foreign language, or those with strong desire to study it.

i) Be persons who have studied the Japanese language or its culture; or those with strong desire to study them.

3. PRIORITY FOR SCREENING

a) Preference can be given to the person who has professional teaching career.

b) Preference can be given to the person who can stay in Ashikaga for more than two years.

c) Preference can be given to the person who can take part in various communities’ activities on weekends as a volunteer.

d) Preference can be given to the person who has higher language proficiency in Japanese.

4. WORKING CONDITIONS: 

a) CONTRACT TERM & WORKING HOURS

Your contract term will start in July and be effective for one year; and it is renewable by the agreement between Ashikaga city and the participant twice.

Having retirees who leave the program without completing the contract term will cause difficulties for school planning of Ashikaga. Therefore, it is required for each participant to finish the term. In case of the violation of contract conditions like returning home without appropriate reasons, the city may have to take necessary measures such as billing the participant for the return of the prepaid travel expenses to Japan.

Your working hours per day are 7 hours and 45 minutes, including a break time of 45 minutes.  The working days are from Monday to Friday.  Though you are not supposed to work on Saturdays and Sundays, you may be requested to work on Saturday when the school you are assigned to has classes on Saturday, and when a school event is held on Saturday.  In such case, the principal of the school can specifically direct you to change your working day and hours, for which a compensatory day off will be given to you.

b) COMPENSATION

     Your compensation is 300,150 yen per month (this will be raised in the second year), which will be transferred into the bank account you designate on the 20th day every month.  In addition, two term-end allowances are paid in June and December.

     If your commuting distance is 2 kilometers or more, you will be paid commuting allowance, whose amount is determined according to the distance.  (If you walk to work, no commuting allowance is paid).  When the number of your working days per month is less than 10 days, half of the monthly commuting allowance will be paid to you.

     In accordance with applicable Japanese laws and regulations, the taxes and insurance premiums, including the following, will be deducted from your compensation: 

Resident Tax, Income Tax, Employee’s Pension Insurance, Tochigi Prefecture’s Municipalities Officials Mutual Aid Association Insurance, Workers’ Accident Compensation Insurance, and Unemployment Insurance, 

c) TRIP TO ASHIKAGA

The plane ticket from Chicago O’Hare airport to the Tokyo International Airport (Haneda) or the New Tokyo International Airport (Narita) will be given to you, and an Ashikaga City officer will guide you to Ashikaga from Haneda or Narita.

 Regarding the expenses for the trip back to the United States after finishing contract term, the plane ticket from Haneda or Narita to Chicago O’Hare airport will be given to you if you decide not to renew the contract for the program and not to work for other organizations within a month after the contact term expires. 

d) HOUSING

Prior to your arrival in Ashikaga, the city prepares appropriate residence for you to live in.  In principle, you are required to live by yourself in the house the city prepares.  It is also basically required for you to live in the house which was occupied by your predecessor.  The rent and other related expenses (including utility costs for electricity, gas, water, and NHK broadcast reception fee) should be paid by you.  As for the Internet, which you can access to in the prepared house, you can use it at your expense.

Your rent is estimated to be about 55,000 yen per month. The contract renewal fee required to be paid annually (50,000 yen) is paid by the city.

The housing deposit (50,000yen) will be covered by the city. It is basically supposed that you work at a junior high school located near your house.

The rent for the month of your arrival is to be paid in cash.  House cleaning will be made prior to your moving into the house. You are required to pay the utility cost incurred during the cleaning. 

The house will be furnished with electric appliances necessary for your life, including a refrigerator, washing machine, and air conditioner. When any of them needs repairing or replacing, you and Ashikaga City will talk about the problem.  Depending on the talk, you may have to pay its repair cost or replacement cost.

e) ANNUAL PAID VACATION

For the first year of your employment, you have 20 days of annual paid vacation, which is counted by the unit of a day and an hour. From the second year on, you will have another 20 days each year, in addition to the number of the days of your previous year’s unused paid vacation.  The number of the days you can carry over to the next year is up to 20, and the remaining hours cannot be carried over.

f) MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION

    Ashikaga City will lend you a bicycle, which you can use for commuting to work and for your everyday use.  When the bicycle needs repairing, you have to pay the repair cost.

In Ashikaga City, you will be arranged to live in a comfortable area where driving a car is not necessary to meet everyday needs. If you still feel the need of driving a car, you are required to assume social responsibility as a sister city ALT. Before you actually start driving in Ashikaga, you have to satisfy the conditions mentioned below, and submit the notification of driving a car to Ashikaga Board of Education.

(a) You do not drive a car during work hours.

(b) You hold a valid Japanese drivers’ license. Your international driver’s license is only valid for one year after your arrival. Therefore, you are advised to pass the Japanese drivers license test before it expires.

(c) You understand the Japanese regulations for driving, reading Japan’s traffic rule textbooks carefully.

(d) You have mandatory automobile liability insurance on your car, and in addition, buy voluntary automobile liability insurance that provides unlimited compensation for bodily injury, and compensation up to 10,000,000 yen for passengers’ bodily injury.  

(e) You understand appropriate procedures in case of emergency.

(f) You report to Ashikaga Board of Education immediately should you get involved in a car accident.

(g) You are responsible for everything that arises from your owning a car, including purchasing, selling or leasing contracts of your car, and its maintenance.

5. SCREENING PROCEDURE 

The application procedure consists of two stages: 1) the Sister Cities Association of Springfield screens all the submitted application forms/documents and interviews the applicants who pass the document screening to select final candidates.  2) those candidates are interviewed by the City of Ashikaga, where the final choice is made. 

The specific procedures of application and selection are as follows:

a) Applicants must submit the following forms and documents to The Sister Cities Association of Springfield by Feb. 23, 2024.  The submitted forms and documents will not be returned. 

                                                      The number of copies

(1) Application form (Original)                                 1 

(2) Photograph (4 cm long × 3 cm broad) taken within the past 6 months   4

(3) Letter of reference (Original)                                          2 

(4) Certificate of achievement transcript                            1

(5) Essay describing your reasons for application (Original)                        1

(6) Photocopy of your university diploma (Original)                        1

(If you do not graduate yet, certificate of enrollment in which the scheduled date of graduation is specified, and a reference letter from the school stuff)

(7) Photocopy of your passport                                           1

b) The document screening will be done in (Feb. 2024) in Springfield. Those who are not notified of the result of the screening from the city by the end of the month do not have to attend the interview.

c) Those who have passed the document screening will be interviewed in (March, 2024). The date, time and place for the interview and other details will be notified to the applicants who passed the document screening. All transportation costs to and from the interview site are to be borne by the applicants.

d) Final results will be notified to the successful applicants by the middle of April, (year). The successful applicants will receive a notification of employment, contract package (including an invitation letter, rules of employment, and agreements) and other detailed importation about working and living in Japan.

e) Application for the successful applicants’ Certificate of Eligibility for Resident Status in Japan is made by Ashikaga City, and the certificate will be sent to their addresses. On receiving the certificate, the successful applicants visit the Embassy of Japan in the United States bringing the certificate and other necessary documents such as your passports with you to apply for your visas. 

f) Successful applicants are required to submit an official Medical Report signed by a licensed, practicing physician.

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