Last year, severe budget cuts forced the Albany Unified School District to divert parcel-tax revenue to cover core operating expenses. That move pulled the rug out from under numerous programs that had been funded by the parcel taxes, including WriterCoach Connection. But the Albany community refused to accept the disappearance of writer coaches from AMS classrooms. The AMS Site Council, the AMS PTA, and the Albany Education Foundation generously teamed up to allocate scarce funds for a limited coaching program at AMS for spring, providing writer coaches to help all eighth-grade students with their I-Search projects for eight weeks. Those two months of coaching began on Groundhog Day (Feb. 2), when our dauntless WCC volunteers popped up in the AMS library to greet students and teachers. What an invigorating feeling, to have writer coaching re-surface in Albany at last. Eight more weeks of coaching sunshine!
Community Alliance for Learning called in a lot of chits to offer this coaching for the cost of only a program site coordinator (Albany education and community activist, and long-time WCC coach and staff member, Teresa Barnett). It's a one-time shot for this year only, and the continuation of writer coaching for AMS, and for Albany High, next year will depend on the availability of funding from the new parcel tax passed last November. Allocation of those resources to pay for WriterCoach Connection will be up to the community at each school, but without that funding, the program cannot continue in Albany.
Meantime, however, the coaches are back and the Albany Middle School library is filled with smiles and abuzz with communication on coaching days. Here are English teacher Abby Skrivan (standing), with WCC coach Jennifer Morris and student Geoffrey Lopez, all clearly engaged with the process and happy that WCC has returned to AMS.
Bob Menzimer