With fall training sessions already completed or under way in Berkeley, El Cerrito, and Oakland, WCC volunteer coordinator Lynn Mueller and coach trainers Marilyn Alberts, Kathleen Hallam, Karen Larson, Laura Marlin, and Jayne Walker are a blur of motion. The flood of volunteers is so strong that Lynn has had to schedule at least one extra training session to meet the demand.
And the new coaches are arriving none too soon--in El Cerrito, Marilyn led a group of volunteers across the training finish line on Thursday evening of last week and the next morning, the coaches were sitting down with students for the first-ever WCC writing conferences at ECHS. El Cerrito community organizer Todd Groves, who powered the push to bring WCC to ECHS, was beaming, and he deserved every high five he got.
This year's expansion to three new school sites marks the most extensive program growth in the history of WCC. Meantime, we're planning how to reach the eight Oakland schools, so far, that are standing in line, waiting for writer coaches for next year.
An exciting time for all of us!
Bob Menzimer