Community Alliance for Learning board chair Kathy Kahn leads a group of two-dozen fellow readers in a marathon, all-day session of literature-out-loud in support of WriterCoach Connection.
At 8 a.m. on Saturday, June 5, a parade of passionate WCC coaches, site coordinators, staffers, board members, and other supporters began reading from their favorite works of literature in the Longfellow Middle School library in Berkeley, and they kept it up, one at a time, until the stroke of 6 p.m. The collective effort so far, with donations still coming in, has generated nearly $19,000 is support of WriterCoach Connection in Oakland, Berkeley, and Albany classrooms.
Organized by Longfellow WCC site co-coordinators Annie Stine and Mark Pasley, RWAT, as the annual event has come to be known, generates palpable emotion in the room, as volunteer readers engage in an activity it's safe to say they don't do at any other time of year: read aloud to other adults. And the experience is equally unique for those who linger as part of the audience: how often do we, as adults, sit and listen to our friends read to us? Just finding out what our friends' favorite pieces of literature are, and why, is an experience that warms the soul.
As the mid-afternoon sun poured through the Longfellow library windows, the Mighty RWAT Art Players gathered in a reading circle for a presentation of Thornton Wilder's American literary classic play, Our Town. The play's themes of love, the repetition of human concerns throughout the generations, and the sanctity of life's small moments resonated in the room and seemed particularly fitting for a program that advances what our ancestors wanted, and generations to come will want, for their children: full development of their potential through literacy, and a firm connection to their community.
RWAT continues to accept donations! The process is really easy online, at http://www.firstgiving.com/writercoach, or you can save us the cut taken by the online donation vendor by sending a check directly to Community Alliance for Learning, ATTN: RWAT, PO Box 6098, Albany, CA 94706. The RWAT fundraising drive continues through the summer, so please help get us to our goal of $25,000!
The Mighty RWAT Art Players, following their epic reading of Our Town. Back row (l. to r.): Priscilla Myrick, Pat Malmstrom, Laura Marlin, Mark Pasley, Jayne Walker, Kathy Kahn. Middle row (l. to r.): Kathleen Hallam, Wendy Breuer, Jesse Dutton-Kenny, Leorah Abouav-Zilberman, Liz Willingham. Front row (l. to r.): Lunell Anderson, Annie Stine, Elly Faden.
Many thanks to all of our volunteer organizers, readers, audience members, and donors, for RWAT 2010!
Bob Menzimer