WriterCoach Connection

Rogers Family Foundation continues its support of WCC

The Rogers Family Foundation is once again providing support for WriterCoach Connection, for the program's coaching initiatives in Oakland for the 2009-10 school year. We are deeply grateful to the Rogers Foundation for its commitment to Oakland students and its willingness to support partnerships in support of Oakland public education.

Bob Menzimer

Update on Albany coaching for 2009-10

As you may know by now, at this point, because of the uncertain budget situation, the Albany Unified School District has not been able to allocate to WCC the parcel-tax funding that has traditionally supported the program at Albany High and Albany Middle School. We all share the dismay about the budget situation in Albany and, although I do want to communicate the reality of school funding in AUSD as it affects WCC, I also want to share how much the program is valued, from the very top with Superintendent Marla Stephenson all the way down through the district staff, school administrators, teachers, students, and, of course, the coaches.

That depth of feeling makes us all determined to maintain some kind of presence in the district, starting with summer-school coaching this year (contact Nick Berger if you'd like to coach students at AHS this summer), and continuing with on-going exploration of some kind of limited coaching for 2009-10 at one site, or at both AMS and AHS, or, if the budget planets align just right, perhaps something resembling a full program at one of the schools. We just don't know yet, but the shape of the state and school budgets make the chances for each of those potential programs increasingly more challenging, in the order I mentioned them.

I do hope that in Albany next year, writer coaches will be sitting down with some students, somehow, somewhere. And if you've already been coaching in Albany, I hope one of them will be you!

Bob Menzimer

WCC funding update for 2009-10

Here's an update on funding for WriterCoach Connection for 2009-10.

Thanks to the base provided by recent donations (see previous post on this blog), we’re making steady progress with funding for next year. The timetable is delayed because of the uncertain state and school budgets, but we’re moving ahead a step at a time.  For example:

• Every one of the Berkeley middle schools has voted its intention to fund WCC at the same level as last year, which is a very big deal. They don’t know yet if they’ll actually have the funds, but they’ve committed to the program if the funds are there. 
• At King, the PTA, historically a pretty robust organization, has committed to provide the funding for direct program costs at the site, another big step.
  
• At Berkeley High, CP Academy staff has already raised half the budget for the program for next year.
  
• In Oakland, Media Academy staff retains some hope that they’ll be able to provide the same level of funding ($20,000) for next year as this year, despite the fact that the district has taken away the High Performing School Grant funds that funded WCC there for 2008-09.

The bleakest part of the picture is Albany, where it looks like all parcel tax funds that supported WCC in the past will be siphoned away for other key priorities. I’m hoping to provide at least some minimal writing support for Albany High or Albany Middle School so we can maintain some kind of presence in the district, but it won’t likely be the full program.

WCC will survive for next year and I believe the expansion initiatives we are planning will fuel a thriving program in the years to come. But there's no doubt that state and school budget challenges loom for the program for the next several years. The support of so many people who are fiercely dedicated to this program--coaches, site coordinators, staffers, and board members--sends out a clear message: We are up to the challenge.

Bob Menzimer

How WCC uses donated funds

The outpouring of donated support for WriterCoach Connection over the past two months has been nothing short of phenomenal, a watershed for our organization and program. As of this morning (June 16), $28,998 has poured into WCC, contributed by individual donors who have responded to the June 6 Read-and-Write-a-thon appeals, and general appeals, sent out to family members and friends by WCC coaches, site coordinators, staffers, and board members, many of whom have also made generous contributions themselves.  Eleven (!) people have set up individual fundraising pages on behalf of WCC, with Firstgiving. For example, see Mark Pasley's Read-and-Write-a-thon page here and mine here. Mark also set up a fundraising page specifically for the Read-and-Write-a-thon--see it here.

How will Community Alliance for Learning use these funds? They will give us a carryover into the next fiscal year (beginning June 30) that will enable us to keep our staff intact and maintain the program. We’re pumping out more grant proposals than ever before, but the uncertain budgets at every one of our school sites mean that at a time of year when we usually know what kind of site-based funding we’ll have, this year nothing is yet certain. So it’s the donated funds that keep our staff in place and therefore maintain the flow of grant proposals and enable us to work with school sites and districts to maximize the chances that we’ll have school contracts going forward into 2009-10. Keeping our small two-person staff intact is crucial, because outside funders simply won’t consider an organization for support without it, reasoning that support in those circumstances would be a bad investment.

Every one of your donated dollars is crucial, deeply appreciated, and being put to direct use on behalf of our students and teachers. Thank you!

Bob Menzimer

Read-and-Write-a-thon donations continue to mount

Our amazing WriterCoach Connection supporters have done it again. As of this morning, emails and/or phone calls to family and friends in support of last Saturday’s Read-and-Write-a-Thon have pushed the total amount raised to support WriterCoach Connection for next year to a spectacular $26,7137(!), with $24,535 from the RWAT page alone (check it out here) and the rest from personal RWAT fundraising pages set up by individuals (for example, see Mark Pasley’s here and Karen Larson’s here).

Meantime, coaches and other WCC associates are still sending out messages to their family members and friends, so we expect the total to continue to rise and have set a new RWAT fundraising goal of $30,000 (!!).

The funds will be put to productive use. They will give us a carryvoer into the next fiscal year (beginning June 30) that will enable us to keep our small staff in place and maintain the program. We're pumping out more grants proposals than ever before, but the uncertain budgets at every one of our school sites mean that at a time of year when we usually know what kind of site-based funding we'll have, this year nothing is yet certain. So it's the donated funds that keep our staff in place and therefore maintain the flow of grant proposals and enable us to work with school sites and districts to maximize the chances that we'll have school contracts going forward into 2009-10. Keeping our small staff intact is crucial because outside funders simply won't consider an organization for support without it, reasoning that it's an unsafe investment.

The Read-and-Write-a-thon last Saturday was highly emotional in ways I think many of us had not expected. Having been immersed in the fundraising aspect of the event, I wasn’t prepared for the sheer impact of listening to our dedicated program participants read from their favorite works, for ten straight hours. It was moving beyond what I can adequately express, and has already generated plans for a similar event next year. For a glimpse of what it looked like, go here. Meantime, I'll post below photos of our first reader of the day, CAFL board member and long-time site coordinator (at King Middle School this past year) Kathleen Hallam; the Mighty RWAT Art Players reading Inherit the Wind at about the middle of the day; and our beloved RWAT godmother and godfather, Annie Stine and Mark Pasley.

 

The really good news is there is another, quite different, opportunity to help raise funds for WCC, this evening (Saturday, June 13). It’s the first-ever WCC benefit celebrity author reading event. "Refreshments and Reading" is a rare opportunity for a personal visit with noted authors Veronica Chater and Beth Lisick. Veronica is a long-time WCC coach in Berkeley and author of the critically acclaimed Waiting for the Apocalypse – A Memoir of Faith and Family.  Beth is author of the NY Times bestseller Everybody into the Pool and the nationally best-selling Helping Me Help Myself. Veronica and Beth  will read from and talk about their work, joined by three Berkeley High writers. This intimate gathering is from 4:00-6:30 p.m. at the home of Kristina Wolf, 260 Alvarado Road in Berkeley. (Google map here.)  Attendance is limited; if you’d like to be there, and I hope you will, please RSVP to Katie Koelle at 510.531.3257 or kkoelle@peralta.edu.

 

 “Refreshments and Reading” is a wonderful opportunity to talk writing with two accomplished professionals. The event is produced by Community Alliance for Learning board members Katie Koelle and Christine McGuinness, who hope to see you there!

Bob Menzimer

 

Teaching leader gives high grades to WriterCoach Connection

Annie Johnston, co-director of Community Partnerships Academy at Berkeley High, had this to say after reviewing several measures of her students' academic achievement this year:

"After two years of WCC support, CP Academy sophomores outperformed BHS students overall and in every ethnic category in passing the CHSEE. WCC contributed tremendously to both competence and confidence for these students. Sixty-five percent of those sophomores signed up for our AP augmentation section. That is a significant increase over past classes--double the percentage that signed up last year!"

Annie's gracious comments speak to both the effectiveness of writer coaching in general and to the longitudinal impact of this support on students who have had two straight years of writer coaching.  The results Annie cites echo what BUSD research data indicates about increased writing achievement among district eighth graders who have had two consecutive years of writing support from WCC.

Bob Menzimer

Community activist speaks up about WCC

A friend of mine from Albany, an attorney, long-time community education activist, significant WCC donor, and trained as a WCC coach, offers this perspective on the importance of the program:

"I am a lawyer who writes for a living. The longer I practice, the more I believe that good writing skills are absolutely key to success in the workplace, no matter what field. Good writing is good thinking, and good, clear thinking means that one can solve problems, an essential skill in any job."

My friend's empirical evidence is backed up by plenty of research data supporting the contention that effective writing is a crucial element in what is labeled "21st Century Learning Skills," capabilities deemed essential for an effective role in the new world economy.

Bob Menzimer

Decorated Berkeley teacher cites the crucial role of WCC

Berkeley High teacher Susannah Bell, whose CP Academy students are served by WriterCoach Connection, was recently honored for teaching excellence by the Berkeley Public Education Foundation. In a subsequent Berkeley school board appearance, at which she was recognized for her teaching achievements, Susannah said:

"WCC has been a key partner in our Writing for College Program. Because of the WCC, our students have more confidence in their writing. As a result, in the CPA class of 2011:

• Two of our students joined the BHS Jacket staff
• 85% passed the ELA section of the CAHSEE on the first attempt (higher passage rate than BHS overall and significantly higher within subgroups)
• 65% have enrolled in the AP English Augmentation class for next year
• One of our students is looking forward to getting his writing published with the help of a writing coach (who has published a critically acclaimed memoir)"

We deeply appreciate Susannah's comments and the vital role she, fellow CP Academy teacher Ariel Morris, and CPA co-director Annie Johnston have played in making WCC such a success at Berkeley High.

Bob Menzimer

Ever wonder what the real value of writing support is to a student?

Albany Middle School site co-coordinator Nancy Whitney forwards this expression of thanks from a student in Mr. Pressnall's class to a WCC volunteer. I don't know if there's a better statement of validation for the efforts of our writer coaches.

"I remember how much help I got with the Mandala essay. You taught me how to rearrange the paragraphs to flow better and how to make a reader be 'hooked' into the story. I appreciate how thoughtful and patient you were and how you always had new suggestions. I remember all the encouragement I got with the I-Search, and how that encouragement gave me that extra push to help me finish. It was nice to go to someone who won't judge you for what you write, only help you improve."

Bob Menzimer

Donations large and small push RWAT total past $11,000!

At a time when WriterCoach Connection is threatened by budget cuts at all seven of our schools, a flood of contributions has pushed the total raised to support WCC's Read-and-Write-a-thon past $11,000. This astonishing outpouring has been particularly fueled by extraordinarily generous $500 donations from a number of people, including:

• A long-time education activist in the Albany schools and a strong supporter of the expansion of WCC to nearby under-served school districts.
• A coach at Willard Middle School in Berkeley, a retired school teacher/librarian, and an active community member.
• A dedicated current coach at Longfellow Middle School in Berkeley.
• A former WCC coach now working in the South Bay for an Internet company

The success of the WCC Read-and-Write-a-thon (going on all day this Saturday, June 6, at King Middle School in Berkeley) is also a direct result of an outpouring of donations in smaller amounts. A large number of $10 donations makes all the difference, particularly when accompanied by the kinds of messages that donors are leaving on our donation page, which you can see here. Look for the comments down there at the bottom.

You can be part of RWAT with not only a donation, but by reading or writing for the cause. Register with Mark at markshiatsu@earthlink.net to grab a slot at the event. Read from a favorite story or poem, or from something you've written. Help guide students in writing activities. Or just sit quietly in a corner and write something yourself. Meantime, ask your friends and family members to sponsor you and your fellow readers and writers. A donation of $10 is just a dollar an hour to sponsor participation all day, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Think about Longfellow teacher Mary Patterson when she says, "Let me tell you what WriterCoach Connection is like for me. It's like a miracle!"

Bob Menzimer