TVYS Mentorship and Pedagogy Project
Our Mentorship and Pedagogy project has evolved over time as we have recognized the need for many more music teachers in our community. Our end goal is to provide opportunities for our high school students to develop as musicians and music teachers as they explore the challenges of teaching young students the joy of making music.
Selection: Interviews and Auditions
Each school year we interview prospective mentors for a contract working with our afterschool program. We are interested in mentors who have adequate mastery of their instrument to perform and instruct in technique for their instruments. We look for mentors who have a track record of reliability and hard work ethic. We love when we find mentors who have a sense of FUN and JOY in making music and helping others learn to love making music.
Those interested can apply online by requesting a link from
Training and Support
Mentors are not considered employees. However to be eligible to work you must attend all required trainings. These trainings include coursework taught in many music colleges are are provided free to all mentors. 100% attendance is mandatory for trainings and meetings. Each semester you will be presented with a training that reviews what you will be doing for the upcoming semester. A schedule of these trainings will be posted 4 weeks prior to each training. If you are unable to attend a training you will be ineligible to mentor for that semester.
In addition to trainings, we meet briefly before and after each sectional to review what will be taught each week and to evaluate the progress of your students. Meetings will be considered part of your contracted time.
Compensation and Expectations
Our mentors are NOT considered employees so they receive a contracted stipend amount for their work in our program. As independent contractors they are free to negotiate the amount of hours they want to work and the days they are available. Compensation is based upon experience and training and mentors can expect an initial contract to begin around $15 an hour. Mentors are encouraged to teach private lessons on their own terms outside of TVYS activities.
Endorsements and Recommendations
We protect the privacy of our TVYS mentors and do not publish their contact information online. However, when a parent asks for a reference for a private teacher for their children, we provide the family's contact information to our mentors for them to reach out to prospective families. Our mentors are NOT employees and are free to arrange private lessons at their own convenience.
We also provide our mentors with letters of recommendation, detailing their service to TVYS and experience gained as a mentor. These letters are helpful in college scholarship applications as well as employment applications.
