Co-teach Cross-Cultural English Club Activities to Lyceum Students - Virtual Service with Ukraine - 19 weeks

About the role

This Virtual Service Pilot Participant (VSPP) role runs from October 12, 2026 to February 22, 2027 (19 weeks). Applicants must be at least 18 years old and U.S. citizens.

Activity/project background

The lyceums in Ukraine are advanced secondary schools that prepare students for higher education and professional life. Their mission combines rigorous academics with resilience, civic responsibility, and global awareness. English education is emphasized as a bridge to international knowledge, collaboration, and opportunity, helping students share their experiences with global peers, humanitarian networks, and academic programs. Activities include language clubs, projects, civic education, volunteerism, cultural exchange, and global awareness initiatives. Due to the war, students have limited opportunities to interact with native speakers or experience other cultures.

Four groups of lyceums are seeking VSPPs to lead weekly English clubs for motivated high school students (ages 14–17). Each VSPP will be assigned to one or two lyceums and will meet with a group of 15–20 self-reliant, motivated students for a 60-minute session once per week over 21 weeks. Clubs will focus on interactive topics such as art, social media, youth life, travel, natural wonders, holidays, traditions, sports, education, and more.

VSPPs will collaborate with local teachers to design engaging activities that provide students with a global perspective and maintain high-quality education despite ongoing challenges. Two lyceums have prior Peace Corps collaboration; two will engage in summer English clubs for the first time; one has no prior Peace Corps experience.

Engagement and tasks

• Co-develop learning resources that incorporate U.S. culture
• Co-design English club session plans with clear policies, procedures, resources, and outcomes to improve students’ fluency, confidence, and cultural understanding
• Co-teach a 60-minute virtual English club session once per week for a group of 15–20 students aged 14–17
• Co-assess conducted sessions, identifying learning objectives and appropriate communicative activities for future sessions

VSPPs are expected to engage in the above tasks for an estimated 5–15 hours per week, with an estimated average of six hours per week. Sessions will generally occur online between 3:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m. Ukraine time, with specific times determined during orientation. Communication with counterparts will use email, Zoom, and WhatsApp. Per the Child Protection Code of Conduct, two adults must be present when engaging online with minors.

Optional Additional Activities

The Peace Corps aims to promote world peace and friendship through three goals:

• Goal 1: Help people of interested countries meet their need for trained individuals — achieved through the VSPP’s engagement and completion of the listed tasks.
• Goal 2: Help promote a better understanding of Americans among the peoples served — may be addressed through an activity identified by the counterpart and VSPP.
• Goal 3: Help promote a better understanding of other peoples among Americans — may include an activity implemented during the engagement.

Essential Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in any field
• Experience: 1 year of TEFL/TESOL teaching experience in the U.S. or abroad
• Intercultural skills and motivation: Flexible, strong cross-cultural agility, high tolerance for ambiguity, able to work independently, resourceful, creative, and genuinely motivated and capable to serve virtually