WriterCoach Connection

Inspiring words at Read-and-Write-a-thon 2011!

Read-and-Write-a-thon 2011 welcomed dozens of WriterCoach Connection friends and associates to the Willard Middle School library in Berkeley on May 21, for our biggest fundraiser of the year. Writer coaches, WCC site coordinators, and Community Alliance for Learning staff and board members read aloud from their favorite works in a non-stop chain of words and images that stretched from 8:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. 

Readers chose from a wide range of their favorite sources for their twenty-minute shifts at the front of the room, from short fiction, essays, and poetry to their own original memoirs, poetry, and fiction. We heard the works of Colette, James Thurber, Sherman Alexie, Emily Dickinson,Tina Fe, Marcel Proust (read in both English and French by political reporter and commentator, and WCC coach, Larry Bensky), and even Abraham Lincoln, when CAFL board member Denis Clifford made his traditional Read-and-Write-a-thon presentation of the Gettysburg Address.

The event is on its way to generating its goal of $25,000 in support of WCC. Donations are still accepted online, or by check, payable to CAFL and mailed to PO Box 6098, Albany, CA  94706. Checks save WCC the 7% fee taken by the online vendor.

WCC coach Liz Willingham reads from The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, by James Thurber, at Read-and-Write-a-thon 2011. Donations are still accepted at the event's website. We're on our way, but we still haven't reached our goal of $25,000. Help us get there!

 

Bob Menzimer

Just when you think you're not making an impact....

Many of our writer coaches have had the experience: We think we're not making an impression on a student. We see the signs -- crossed arms, head hidden in a hoodie, mumbled replies, at best, to our questions about the student's writing assignment. But we're often surprised.

Take the middle-school student who recently was working with one of our coach volunteers in Berkeley. The student didn't appear to be engaged with the coaching process, but the coach wouldn't give up. She sensed an opening relating to the topic of the student's paper, suggested a website linking to the topic, went home and found a related photograph on line, and presented it to the student at the next coaching session.

At the end of the year, the student handed the coach a thank-you note that said, "When I saw that you were making an effort, I thought I should, too."

We often tell coaches they're making more of an impact than they think, and this story is a case in point.

 

Bob Menzimer

There's still time to contribute to the Read-and-Write-a-thon!

The annual Read-and-Write-a-thon (RWAT), WCC's biggest fundraising event of the year, kicks off our spring fund drive this Saturday, May 21, at the Willard Middle School library (2425 Stuart Street, Berkeley), and there's still time for you to support it. Log onto our special RWAT donation site  or, to save the donation vendor's 7% fee, send a check, payable to Community Alliance for Learning, to PO Box 6098, Albany, CA  94706.

You can also join us at Willard Middle School on Saturday. From 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m, we'll be reading constantly, in 20-minute shifts, from our favorite works, playing literary games, and enjoying the festive camaraderie that always envelopes this event. To sign up, think about what you'd like to read aloud to your compatriots and contact Annie at [email protected]. 

And tell your friends! It's the outreach from our supporters to their friends, family members, and associates that makes this event our biggest fundraiser of the year. 

 WCC coach Mary Ann Benson in action at last year's Read-and-Write-a-thon. Put yourself in this picture!

 

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.

Media Academy student newspaper wins national award

We're so proud of the writing skills of students at Media Academy, where WriterCoach Connection volunteers support every tenth-grader with individual writer-coaching conferences throughout the school year. 

Media journalism students guided by advisor Lisa Shafer have won recent awards that you can check out in Katy Murphy's online Education Report. Read all about it!

Support the WCC Read-and-Write-a-thon!

The WriterCoach Connection Read-and-Write-a-thon, is coming! On Sat., May 21, WCC supporters will make the pilgrimage to the Willard Middle School library (2425 Stuart Street)  for a day-long chain of reading aloud from their favorite works, all to generate funding for WCC. To sign up for a 20-minute slot to read whatever plucks your own heartstrings, contact Annie at [email protected]. Most importantly, donate to the cause and help keep our coaches working one on one with students in Oakland, Berkeley, Albany, and El Cerrito classrooms!

 Event organizers (and Longfellow Middle School WCC site co-coordinators) Annie Stine and Mark Pasley invite you to Read-and-Write-a-thon 2011!

 WCC coach Charles O'Neil serves up the word at last year's Read-And-Write-a-thon. Picture yourself doing the same thing on May 21 of this year!

Help us spread the word about the Read-and-Write-a-thon! Here's how:

1. Go to our fundraising page.
2. Click the Facebook icon beneath the big green Donate button.
3. Write a message to your Facebook friends to encourage them to give! 

At Willard Middle School, WCC coach Nicole Barden works with eighth-grade student Mario Navarette. This is why we're raising money for WriterCoach Connection!

 

Bob Menzimer