WriterCoach Connection

WCC superstar Todd Groves honored by the Ed. Fund

We are so very pleased to report that Todd Groves of El Cerrito has been selected to receive the West Contra Costa Public Education Fund (The Ed. Fund) "Distinguished Citizen Award" for his "countless hours" as a volunteer on behalf of students at El Cerrito High School and Portola Middle School. Among other notable contributions to the students, school and community, Todd was instrumental in bringing WriterCoach Connection to the two El Cerrito schools, mobilizing the community to fund and find volunteers for our first program in West Contra Costa County.

Todd will be honored at the Ed Fund Gala on Friday May 18th. Read all about it and/or obtain tickets in the El Cerrito Patch.

Meantime, here's Todd, at our first coach training session in West County, in the library at El Cerrito High School back in 2010. See if you can spot him, in his trademark baseball cap!

Maureen Dixon

 

Help Us Meet Our Annual Read-and-Write-a-thon Goal!

Asked to read a passage from your favorite book, what would you choose? Would you pick up a well-worn copy of Emily Dickinson? Cite from your latest book club find? Recall a childhood favorite like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or revisit the inspiring Gettsyburg Address?

On Saturday, May 19 from 8:00am-6:00pm at Martin Luther King Middle School in Berkeley, coaches and students will gather for our fourth annual Read-and-Write-a-thon to celebrate writing, ideas, and community by reading from favorite works.

Sponsor Our Readers! >

The Read-and-Write-a-thon is the critical spring fundraiser that enables us to continue reach out to more and more students who are just beginning to realize the importance of making their voices heard. This year we have expanded the WCC program to twelve locations and the need for community support is as great as ever. Your contribution means more coaches working with more students, delivering writing and critical thinking skills they need for a successful future!

We also welcome you to share your passion for the written word by choosing your favorite piece of writing and joining us for the live event. Prepare to be inspired by new and familiar works, as well as challenged by a game of high-stakes Literary Jeopardy.

Please forward this to friends and relatives who might also be interested in our work—we are deeply grateful for your help and your efforts to support WriterCoach Connection!

Note: Donating online at FirstGiving is simple and secure. If you prefer to donate by check, please make it payable to CAFL and mail it to: CAFL, PO Box 6098, Albany, CA 94706. Please write RWAT on the check memo line. All donations are tax deductible and will be acknowledged with a written receipt. Tax I.D. #91-2144555.

Helping West County students prepare for the future

On Saturday, March 17, we were pleased to host a series of workshops helping students articulate their identities through writing. The occasion was the Getting Ready for College and Career Conference, sponsored by the West Contra Costa Unified School District and held at DeJean Middle School in Richmond. A stalwart band of 24 WCC volunteers sat with small groups of students in each workshop, encouraging 8th grade students to write about the ideal high school to match their personal identities, and 9th and 10th grade students to formulate thoughts for Personal Statements for college and job applications.

Here's how it looked:

Above, WCC coach and El Cerrito High site coordinator Maureen Dixon encourages a group of 9th and 10th graders to articulate their identities in writing.

Above, WCC coach Sarah Allday makes the personal connection that is vital to our work with students.

Above, the magic of words on paper.

A resource fair followed the conference. Community Alliance for Learning associate director Lynn Mueller and board chair Kathy Kahn work the WCC table:

Another volunteer for WriterCoach Connection:

The West County school district was particularly delighted with the highly interactive WCC workshops at the conference. We look forward to returning for the 2013 event!

Bob Menzimer

WCC volunteers help students reach for scholarships

A program called iPivoted enables donors to support individual students with an abundance of drive to succeed in college but without the resources to make it happen. To help students apply for these donor scholarships, iPivoted teamed with the West Contra Costa Public Education Fund on August 16 to sponsor a Scholar's Retreat and give students one-on-one help crafting their stories for their scholarship applications. To find writer coaches to work with the students, the Ed. Fund turned to WriterCoach Connection, and our volunteers responded with enthusiasm, coming in to sit down and do what they do best: help students, one on one, with their writing.

Clearly pleased with the support, Ed. Fund Program Assistant Zuhair Saadat commented, "The event was a great success and that was due in no small part to the effort of all the volunteers we found through WriterCoach Connection."

Robert Bunce, Ed. Fund Program Director, noted, "What a real testament to the value of the WriterCoach Connection when a room full of teenagers asks for more time to work on essays with their mentors on a Tuesday morning during the summer."

Added Ed. Fund Executive Director Joel Mackey, "I want to thank your team of volunteers for working with us and our scholar students. It was a wonderful connection for them and us."  

Many thanks to coaches Marilyn Alberts, Dona Boatright, Pam Crane, Kris Hafner, Nick Keefe, Karen Larson, Dale Marshall, Alana Siegel, and Kent Wright, for giving up some valuable summer hours to support these students, the Ed. Fund, and iPivoted. 

Here is Alana Siegel, a WCC volunteer at King Middle School in Berkeley, helping a student reach for the stars at the Scholar's Retreat in Richmond on Tuesday.

Bob Menzimer

WCC recognized with two awards

The award spotlight has shone twice recently on Community Alliance for Learning and WriterCoach Connection.

At its annual Spring Luncheon on May 6, the Berkeley Public Education Foundation recognized 
WCC as its 2010-11 Distinguished Community Partner. Many CAFL and WCC associates joined more than 400 guests who filled the Luncheon site at His Lordships, on the Berkeley Marina, with rousing energy forthe sun-splashed Friday noontime festivities. Distinguished Bay Area journalist Belva Davis delivered a moving keynote address for the event, which also recognized Washington Elementary teachers Kim Laurance and Hilary Mitchell, and Jefferson Elementary teacher Rick Kleine, named BPEF's Distinguished Educators for 2010-11.

On May 11 at its annual volunteer celebration, the Volunteer Center of San Francisco and San Mateo Counties presented CAFL and WCC with its Excellence in Volunteer Management award. CAFL Associate Director and Volunteer Manager Lynn Mueller took the stage to accept the award from Volunteer Board President Jonathan Lemberg, with CAFL board chair Kathy Kahn, board members Katie Koelle and Lunell Anderson, CAFL Director of Instruction Jayne Walker, and CAFL Executive Director Bob Menzimer leading the cheers from the audience.

It's gratifying, of course, for WCC to be recognized for more than a decade of service to East Bay public-school students and teachers, and we look forward to the next ten years, and beyond.

Strollin' into the world of WriterCoach Connection

On a windblown Sunday that eventually saw the clouds chased away, the WriterCoach Connection booth at yesterday's Solano Stroll attracted a robust 36 new volunteer coaching prospects. 

 

The conversation was lively all day as a flock of school parents, community members, writers, editors, and teachers roosted in front of the WCC display to check out the program. We also greeted many current volunteers and school officials, who paused in mid-Stroll to cheer us on. 

Many thanks to our stalwart booth heroes, who filled the air all day with information about WCC. They included Sarah Allday, Denis Clifford, Todd Groves, Kathleen Hallam, Katie Koelle, Karen Larson, Lynn Mueller, Annie Stine, and Jayne Walker.

Here's (l. to r.) Lynn Mueller, Sarah Allday, Todd Groves,  Jayne Walker, and Kathleen Hallam, still smiling as the afternoon shadows lengthened.

 
 

The day before, Karen Larson and Kathy Kahn whipped up plenty of interest in WCC at the Oakland Volunteer Fair, with thirteen new prospective coach trainees.

We'll need more than 400 coaches again this year to serve 1,500 students at our nine school sites. Volunteer coordinators Lynn Mueller and Karen Larson have us well on the way!

Bob Menzimer

WCC honors its Volunteer of the Year

At the WriterCoach Connection Volunteer Appreciation Party on March 28, Kathleen Hallam, WCC site coordinator at King Middle School in Berkeley, presented the Community Alliance for Learning Marilyn Alberts Award to a  long-time coach and one of the program's first site coordinators, Pam Crane. Pam continued serving WCC long after her kids had graduated from the Berkeley schools, and continues as an invaluable writer coach to this day. She brings her boundless energy, focus, and skills to the table every time she coaches and has guided countless students to more effective writing over the years.

The Marilyn Alberts Award is presented annually to a WCC participant who embodies the skill and selfless dedication of Marilyn Alberts, a veteran educator who serves WCC as a coach and coach trainer and offers the organization guidance informed by a long career in the classroom.

Congratulations to Pam, a richly deserving honoree!

 Pam Crane, left, accepts CAFL's Marilyn Alberts Outstanding Volunteer Award from Kathleen Hallam at this year's Volunteer Appreciation party on March 28.

Bob Menzimer

WriterCoach Connection at Berkeley celebrates Cal student coaches

One of the most welcome additions to WCC in the last few years has been the formation of an official UC Berkeley student organization to recruit Cal students as writer coaches for WCC. At its December 3 meeting, WriterCoach Connection at Berkeley expressed appreciation for the dedicated service to our middle and high school students and their teachers. And everyone at Community Alliance for Learning joins in that expression of gratitude! Our public-school kids LOVE their Cal coaches, who have energized our entire program with their skill, energy, and enthusiasm.

Photo by Lynn Mueller

At the WCCB meeting on Dec. 3 were (top, left to right): Claire Hwang, Rachel Morgan, Leah Moskovic, Karlie Drutz, Jennifer Carr, Joanna Salem, and WCCB President Wei Liu. Bottom, left to right: Debbie Lieu, Jane Chong, Cal Volunteer Manager Briana Jauregui, WCCB Secretary Kelli-Jean Chun, and WCCB Treasurer Melissa Solano.

These Cal students have really transformed the ranks of our WCC coaches. Go Bears!

Bob Menzimer

They don't call it the best yard sale in town for nothing

Last year one browser bubbled, "Oh I'm so glad you guys are back. This is the best yard sale of the year!" It  was, of course, the annual WriterCoach Connection benefit yard sale. And it's coming back, on Saturday, April 18, 9:00 to 4:00, filling the sidewalks at 2447 Derby in Berkeley, just east of Telegraph, and just up from Andronico's. Stacks of premium stuff, piles of just plain stuff that somebody loved once and somebody else will love again.

To help support WCC, you don't have to spend money--you can provide something to sell! To donate goods for the yard sale, please call Kathy at 510.524.9270 or Christine at 510.649-7555.

Meantime, here's Lisa Awrey (below), current WriterCoach Connection site co-coordinator at Media Academy in Oakland, admiring the goods at last year's event. Come on by this year. Come on, buy this year!

Bob Menzimer