Author: dominiquelduarte

As a professional singer and actor, I have had a total of 33 jobs in 17 years. I have worked at least 3 jobs or more simultaneously in addition to performing over the years. Each week, I will discuss one of my former or current jobs. My thirty-second job was floater teacher assistant at Long Island City Early Childhood Center with Birch Family Services.

Getting the Job

In November 2023, I still worked as a banquet server at Amerivents and Cipriani. However, catering slows down in January and February. So, I interviewed and accepted a para position at Birch Family Services. When I got hired to sing on the Tea Around Town bus, I turned down the Birch job. Then, the Tea bus job fell through in January. I reached out to Birch about the para position. The position was already filled so I was hired as a floater teacher’s assistant.

The Experience

As a floater teacher assistant, I filled in for classes that needed additional assistance. I attended an Autism workshop and learned that working with children with special needs requires very extensive training. I think that the staff was undertrained. During February winter break, I decided to apply for full-time positions at other schools.

Birch Family Services paid a very low hourly wage with part-time hours. There was no training at all during my time there, except one staff training for the entire Birch network. I felt like I was not really learning how to do my job properly. Once I was hired at East River, I gave two-week notice to Birch Family Services. My last day was March 15th, 2024.

https://birchfamilyservices.org/school/long-island-city-early-childhood-center/

https://www.bydominiqueduarte.com/

As a professional singer and actor, I have had a total of 33 jobs in 17 years. I have worked at least 3 jobs or more simultaneously in addition to performing over the years. Each week, I will discuss one of my former or current jobs. My thirty-first job was server/singer on the Tea Around Town Bus in NYC.

Getting the Job

I found this job on Indeed and interviewed on Zoom. I was hired as a singer. The singer had to memorize 12 jazz standards and narrate the bus tour. While I worked on learning the jazz standards, I was scheduled as a server. Once I sang the songs for the manager, I would be scheduled as a singer.

Experience

This job seemed like a really cool job at first. But, it was extremely disorganized, had unsanitary conditions for guests and workers. The DOH closed down the office that we were using to prepare the food and wash the dishes. I have worked in food service for several years. Food is supposed to be in a separate area from the dishwashing area. In Tea Bus office, the food was right near the dishwashing area, which is probably why the DOH shut it down. The company found another place was more sanitary.

The workers were not the friendiest and most did not like the job at all. Some of the my co-workers were nice and helpful and a few were super rude to me, which has not happened very often in my previous jobs. Usually, I get along quite well with my co-workers, but on the Tea Bus, it was awful. I was the only black woman hired on the Tea Bus as a singer or server.

Quitting

I told my manager that I thought that my a few of my co-workers were being rude to me due to my race, but he thought that I was projecting. This was the first time in my life that I ever brought up my race at work. I am usually one of the only black women in many workplaces. I do not want to be accused of using the race card, so I never bring it up.

However, this job had challenging work conditions so working with co-workers who were not kind did not help the situation. Lastly, I was asked to sing and I was only scheduled to sing on one shift. After this, I was scheduled as a server because after New Year’s Eve, the shifts slowed down.

Tourism goes down after New Year’s Eve in NYC. I decided to quit after about a month of work. Lastly, the guests were not always getting what they paid for. Many guests were not able to get on the bus that they had already bought tickets for the ride. Also, the bus was running extremely late to pick up the people to get on the bus. It was really disorganized and a bit of a scam at times.

https://topviewtix.com/tea-around-town

https://www.bydominiqueduarte.com/

As a professional singer and actor, I have had a total of 33 jobs in 17 years. I have worked at least 3 jobs or more simultaneously in addition to performing over the years. Each week, I will discuss one of my former or current jobs. My thirtieth job was 6th Grade Math Teacher at Bronx Prep Middle School with the Democracy Prep Charter Network.

Getting the Job

In January 2023, my catering shifts at Cipriani and Amerivents came to a complete halt. I filed for unemployment for the first time ever and did not qualify for it. In January, I began applying for full-time job teaching jobs and interviewed for a position at Democracy Prep.

I prepared a 6th grade math lesson for my demo lesson with the sixth graders. The demo went extremely well and I was offered a position immediately. Also, I re-enrolled at Relay Graduate School of Education to finish the last 5 credits of my degree.

The Experience

I started working at Bronx Prep in February after winter break. During this time, I observed the other teacher’s classes. I only got to work in my homeroom class in the mornings after I requested this. I was told to backwards plan the math lessons for the remaining months of the school year.

My classroom management has always been a work in progress. Since I was mostly observing the other teachers for the first two weeks, I had not built a relationship with my other three 6th grade math classes. I had the strongest relationship with my homeroom/1st period math class. The music teacher told me that my homeroom’s behavior had improved since I began working with them.

Possible Music Teaching

During my first week, the assistant principal asked me to teach music because the music teacher was going to be leaving. Originally, I agreed to do this, but changed my mind. In order to fulfill my graduate school requirements, I had to teach 6th grade math. I changed my mind and decided to just teach math for the 6th grade classes since that was what I was hired to do.

Classroom Management

Once I began teaching all the math classes, the assistant principal was not content with my classroom management. She called me into her office to tell me that they would like me to work with the 7th Grade math teacher. My current co-teacher, who was actually a behavior dean would continue teaching the 6th grade math classes. Also, I would begin teaching SETSS Special Education Support Services.

I thought this was a great idea to be honest. The issue was that I was not legally allowed to do either of these positions. I was in the process of getting my certification to teach grades 1-6 general education, not certification in Special Education or for grades 7-12. I told my assistant principal that I did not think that I was allowed to teach 7th grade math.

Asking to Be Dishonest

My assistant principal told me to be dishonest with my grad school professor, so I told my professor. My graduate school professor told me that it was against state regulation for me to teach outside of my pending certification. This meant that I was not allowed to teach SETSS or 7th grade math. My assistant principal knew this, but asked me to do this anyway.

Keeping My Integrity

I sent an email to the principal and cc’d the superintendent. After this, the assistant principal and principal called me into their office. Both were angry that I sent the email and I told them that I wanted a third-party in the room. They went to get someone. I believe the Holy Spirit just told me to resign right then and there.

I grabbed my stuff and left after only 5 weeks. The biggest consequence about leaving was that I could not finish my degree and I ended up owing my grad school $4,000, which I am still trying to pay back in 2024. My salary was $72,000 at this job. It was not easy to walk away from that salary, but my integrity is worth more than a paycheck.

https://democracyprep.org/ny/bpms/

https://www.bydominiqueduarte.com/

As a professional singer and actor, I have had a total of 33 jobs in 17 years. I have worked at least 3 jobs or more simultaneously in addition to performing over the years. Each week, I will discuss one of my former or current jobs. My twenty-ninth job was banquet server for Exquisite Staffing (Cipriani).

Getting the Job

I applied for Exquisite Staffing on Indeed.com. I went to the interview and was hired on the spot again. The uniform was my biggest concern because it required quite a few items. You were given an all white jacket, and you needed to get a lighter, a crumber, wine key, white shirts, dress shoes, and black pants. The company suggested purchasing a second white jacket for $60 so I bought one. Since I worked several shifts a week, I needed a second jacket.

The Experience

Cipriani gave more consistent shifts than Amerivents. There were four locations, and I worked at three out of the four locations: Wall Street, 42nd Street and 25th Broadway. I never worked a shift at the South Street location, but worked most of my shifts at the Wall Street location.

I preferred working at the 42nd Street and 25th Broadway locations because the management was more organized and the staff meal was the best. Wall Street gave me the most shifts, but the management was disorganized, the staff meal was usually not enough for all of the staff for each shift. I worked several high profile events with guests including Oprah, Busta Rhymes, The Beach Boys, Donald Trump, Wendell Pierce. Events were as small as 150 people and as high as 1400 people depending organization.

Quitting

I worked at Cipriani for a year. This job was starting to wear on my body because all the the locations have marble steps. After a year of going up and down marble step several times every night for a year, my knees were starting to hurt for the first time in my life. On my final night at Cipriani, I literally felt like my knees were going to buckle underneath me and it was a bit scary.

https://www.bydominiqueduarte.com/

https://exquisitestaffing.com/

As a professional singer and actor, I have had a total of 33 jobs in 17 years. I have worked at least 3 jobs or more simultaneously in addition to performing over the years. Each week, I will discuss one of my former or current jobs. My twenty-eighth job was/is banquet server for Amerivents.

Getting the Job

When I began submitting for performance work on Backstage.com, I received a message about interviewing for Amerivents. I went to the interview and was hired on the spot. Amerivents is a hospitality staffing agency similar to Instawork or Jitjatjo. Amerivents sends you a shift and you either accept the shift or decline it. However, if you accept a shift, you must show up to work the shift.

The Experience

In order to begin working at Amerivents, I had to get my food handler’s certification. I took an online course and got the certificate. It expires June 2025, so I will need to take another food handling course soon. Overall, I enjoy working for Amerivents. The jobs are pretty simple and low maintenance.

I have worked at the One World Observatory, The Empire State Building, The Harmony Club, Arthur Ashe Stadium, the Bowery Hotel, and the Metropolitan Opera. Most of my shifts have been at the Jacob Javits Center in Hudson Yards. Working in catering is a seasonal job during the spring and fall. There are very few events after New Year’s Eve until mid-March and it is also slow in July and August until the U.S. Open.

Current Job

I have worked with Amerivents for two and a half years. I have had several job changes throughout the last few years, but Amerivents has been a perfect fit in all the chaos in my life. However, the shifts were just not as consistent this year. There was high turnover with the management team. When one of the people who sent most of the shifts left, I did not receive as many invites as I used to receive.

Also, since I worked full-time at East River most of the year, I was not available during the weekdays. Most Amerivents shifts are for corporate events and are held during the weekdays. When I was laid off in September from East River Child Development Center, I posted my availability for Amerivents and received 9 shifts in September, which was extremely helpful after losing my full-time job. Lastly, Amerivents is an amazing side hustle, just not a great full-time consistent job due to the slow periods.

https://www.amerivents.com/

https://www.bydominiqueduarte.com/

As a professional singer and actor, I have had a total of 33 jobs in 17 years. I have worked at least 3 jobs or more simultaneously in addition to performing over the years. Each week, I will discuss one of my former or current jobs. My twenty-seventh job was 5th Grade Teacher at P.S. 202 Ernest S. Jenkyns in Brooklyn.

Getting the Job

In November 2021, I began applying for the NYS Public School system. I got accepted into the teacher pool. I interviewed at a few schools in-person. When I interviewed at P.S. 202, I observed my co-teacher’s class and then he hired me. Surprisingly, he did not ask me to complete a demo lesson, which is unusual.

The Experience

My first day at P.S. 202 was December 22nd, two days before Christmas break. On my first day with my co-teacher and the class, I was exposed to COVID. The next day, while I was getting ready for work, my co-teacher calls to tell me that she tested positive for COVID. My co-teacher and the class were required to stay home. My co-teacher was a bit sick on my first day of work, but I did not think that it was COVID.

Since I had also been exposed to COVID, I thought that I would need to stay home as well. Coincidentally, I was cat sitting for the Art teacher at Elm, so I did not expose my roommates. However, the principal told me that I needed to come in to work unless I had symptoms. I subbed for other classes instead of my assigned class for the day before Christmas break.

COVID

On January 3rd, the day I was supposed to return to school, I developed COVID symptoms. I had the symptoms for a week and a half. When I returned to school, my co-teacher and I had a disagreement on how to do parallel teaching and guided reading. After this conversation, I was pretty discouraged and decided to resign. At this point, this was my third school in a year and a half and I was over all of it. My co-teacher and I got along well after this, but it was too late.

Quitting

I sent a letter of resignation on MLK day 2022. At public schools, you are required to give a month’s notice. I gave 30-day notice and tried to rescind my resignation, but the principal told me that the DOE already processed it. During the 30 days, I tried to get all of my data for my graduate school courses.

However, once I stopped working at the school, my professor told me that I could not continue my courses even though I had ALL of the material and data to complete my degree. In June, I did come back to P.S. 202 to attend the students 5th Grade graduation.

https://www.bydominiqueduarte.com/

https://preparedawesome202.org/

As a professional singer and actor, I have had a total of 33 jobs in 17 years. I have worked at least 3 jobs or more simultaneously in addition to performing over the years. Each week, I will discuss one of my former or current jobs. My twenty-sixth job was 3rd Grade teacher at Elm Community Charter School in Queens.

Getting the Job

I did not know if I was going to be rehired at Achievement First Crown Heights. I began applying for teaching jobs and finally got hired at Elm Community Charter School. Before the students arrived, I thoroughly enjoyed the two-week orientation training for all the teachers. I was super optimistic going into the school year.

The Experience

Initially, I really liked working at Elm, but I found out later that there were lots of issues at the school behind the scenes. The Elm teachers unionized a few years prior and the school was only four years old. There was quite a bit of tension between the teachers and the administration. There was a lawsuit that was pending with the NYC teacher’s union.

https://www.uft.org/news/news-stories/news-stories/queens-charter-votes-join-uft

Multiple teachers resigned during orientation and several more teachers resigned between September 2021 and December of 2021. The turnover was so quick that it was difficult for the administration to replace the teachers that left. Secondly, my students were put under so much pressure to excel. Some students would cry in the middle of their tests due to anxiety.

Grading System

When the teachers put in the grades, only two assessments were included in the student’s final math grade. This made no sense because the students had several exit tickets and homework assignments that could have been included in their final grade. Some of the parents were upset about their child’s grades. I agreed with the parents because two assessments is not a true reflection of the student’s progress over the entire grading period.

I brought this up to the assistant principal in our grading meeting after parent-teacher conferences. Her response was that the students were going to be judged by their test scores in life. I got frustrated and left the meeting. This was not my proudest moment, but it happened. I apologized later, but I felt bad for one of my students because of his grade. His grade was not a true reflection of his progress in my math class and I thought his grade was completely unfair.

Quitting

Lastly, my co-teacher was expecting a baby. She was going on maternity leave in January. I taught guided reading, math, math stories and my co-teacher taught guided reading, ELA, humanities, social emotional learning, and closed reading. I was struggling to teach my own subjects so adding on more in the spring semester felt overwhelming to me.

Since teachers were quitting left and right, I knew that I was going to end up teaching all seven subjects by myself. In November 2021, I began applying for the NYS Public School system. I got accepted into the teacher pool and was chosen to teach fifth grade at P.S. 202 Ernest S. Jenkins. When I was hired at the public school, I gave my resignation to Elm Community Charter School.

https://elmcharterschool.org/

https://www.bydominiqueduarte.com/

As a professional singer and actor, I have had a total of 33 jobs in 17 years. I have worked at least 3 jobs or more simultaneously in addition to performing over the years. Each week, I will discuss one of my former or current jobs. My twenty-fifth job was Summer Journey Teacher for Catapult Learning.

Getting the Job

In spring 2021, I began applying for full-time teaching positions for the following school year. I did not think that I would be rehired at Achievement First after failing my final observation. When I applied for Catapult, I am not sure if I knew it was only for the summer. However, I worked for the company for three summers in a row for six weeks each summer.

Catapult Learning Experiences

During the summer of 2021 and 2022, I worked for Catapult Learning online from 9am until 1pm. This job paid $40 an hour, which was nice. Summer of 2023 was finally taught in person. I was assigned to Incarnation School in Washington Heights. This may have been one of the easiest and highest paying jobs that I have had to date.

We started the day with a morning meeting. The game Among Us was very popular at the time that I was teaching, so we played a multiplication version of Among Us on Youtube in morning meetings. Every year I taught 2nd graders going to third grade in the Fall, and multiplication was a super valuable skill to learn in math. We worked on ELA and interactive STEM activities.

Never Really Quit this Job

This job was a summer job only. I worked at East River Child Development Center full-time this summer, so I did not work at Catapult Learning this year. Secondly, Catapult lead teachers are required to have certification and my COVID teaching certification expired in 2023 and I never received my official teaching certification after resigning from Democracy Prep.

https://www.bydominiquedxpuarte.com/

https://catapult-learning-careers.ttcportals.com/search/jobs

As a professional singer and actor, I have had a total of 33 jobs in 17 years. I have worked at least 3 jobs or more simultaneously in addition to performing over the years. Each week, I will discuss one of my former or current jobs. My twenty-fourth job was assistant Zumbini instructor for Pixie Pods.

Zumbini Training

I applied for this job while I was teaching full-time. When I was hired, I took the Zumbini instructor training. Zumbini classes are a baby version of an adult zumba class. Once I got the certification, I began shadowing the zumbini instructors with the intention of taking over as a zumbini teacher. The zumbini teacher works with a classes of babies and toddlers along with their parents. It was so much fun to assist with the classes. We worked at birthday parties and Sunday morning classes as well.

Misunderstanding

I never quit this position, but I just did not have time to do it while I was teaching full-time. I was told that I could assist until I learned all the material and songs to lead the classes. However, I never had time to learn the material to lead the classes. I was told by the owner that she would use me as a substitute in the future. If I was not teaching full-time and attending graduate school, this would have been a great side job in addition to catering.

Owner of Pixie Pods

Porsha Putney is the owner and founder of Pixie Pods. She started the business during the pandemic and it has flourished. By the time, I began working for the company, it was already in high demand. She is a professional dancer who was out of work due to the pandemic and starting this dynamic business. I was pretty proud that a young black woman created such a phenomenal business to serve NYC children. Try Pixie Pods for your kids next party or enroll your children in one of the many arts classes that the company offers. The link is below!

https://pixiepodskids.com/

https://www.zumbini.com/en/become-a-zumbini-instructor

https://www.bydominiqueduarte.com/

As a professional singer and actor, I have had a total of 33 jobs in 17 years. I have worked at least 3 jobs or more simultaneously in addition to performing over the years. Each week, I will discuss one of my former or current jobs. My twenty-third job was 3rd Grade teacher-in-residence at Achievement First Crown Heights Elementary School.

Getting the Job

In 2020, I began applying for full-time teaching positions for the first time since 2014. I was not making enough money working at the after-school program. Secondly, I could not seem to get a full-time job unless it was in the field of education or customer service. Education pays better, but I hate working as a full-time lead teacher. I prefer customer service, but the pay is not enough or consistent enough to make a living.

In February 2020, I interviewed and did a demo lesson at Achievement First Crown Heights Elementary. I was hired as a teacher-in-residence for the fall of 2020. The world shut down in March so by the time I started my job in the fall, we were fully remote.

Pandemic Online Teaching

For the 2020-2021 school year, my co-teacher and I taught a class of 22 third grade students on Zoom every day from late-August until late June. We met online at 8:30 am until 3pm everyday with wiggle breaks and an hour lunch break. This was not what I had in mind as my first real full-time teaching experience. I had never taught math, science or ela. Also, I was enrolled in graduate school online as well.

Achievement First Experience

Achievement First had its’ own curriculum. All of the lessons were pre-planned, but I struggled to teach the material because I did not write the lessons. It is difficult to internalize lessons that you did not create. Also, the point of teaching at charter schools is to put all the thinking on the student. When I was in school, we had to learn the material before we were required have the thinking put on us as students. It is a complex way of teaching especially for a new teacher.

Quitting

During the school year, I had four evaluations that I needed to pass for my graduate school program. On my fourth evaluation, I failed my observation. I got another chance to pass for graduate school. However, the other teachers-in- residence had gotten job offers from Achievement First. I thought I was not going to be rehired by Achievement First so I quit at the end of the school. To date, this is the only full-time teaching position that I completed the entire school year.

https://www.bydominiqueduarte.com

https://www.achievementfirst.org/careers/