WriterCoach Connection

Got an itch to coach?

If you like working with students, have we got an opportunity for you. More than 2,000 opportunities, actually -- that's the number of students we'll be serving this year with one-on-one writer coaching. The commitment won't break your time bank (about two class periods a month) and you may find it to be, as so many of our coaches have, the most satisfying volunteer experience you've ever had.

Pick your school -- we'll be in a dozen of them this year, in Oakland, Berkeley, Albany, El Cerrito, and Richmond. Pick your grade level -- we'll be serving students from 7th through 12th grade. Pick your day of the week to coach -- on most Tuesdays through Fridays, we'll be coaching somewhere. In other words, you can tailor this experience to your schedule.

Jump on in -- the coaching's fine!

Click here for full information about volunteering and registering for our free coach training. We'll be delighted to welcome you to our family!

Bob Menzimer

 

Haas Sr. Fund continues support of WCC

Members of the board of directors of the Walter & Elise Haas Fund have voted to continue their generous support of Writer Coach Connection, with a $30,000 grant for the 2012-13 school year. We will use this funding to increase our organizational capacity and to support WCC at our nine school sites in four districts for the coming school year.

We deeply appreciate the support of Haas Sr. The foundation has been instrumental in strengthening our organization and program for the past several years, enabling us to significantly increase the number of students we serve with WriterCoach Connection.

Bob Menzimer

Summertime, and the WCC wheels are turning

Even though the summertime thoughts of our volunteer coaches are probably focused less on school classrooms than on barbecues, camping, and trips to see family and friends, work continues behind the scenes to prepare for WriterCoach Connection for the 2012-13 school year. (See the posts below about our summer volunteer recruiting.) For this coming year, we project to return to all of our existing sites. Among the changes for 2012-13: 

• The small high schools on the Fremont Federated campus in Oakland will reconstellate, becoming the larger Fremont High School once again. We'll be coaching the 9th grade "house" at Fremont. 
• At Berkeley High, we'll be expanding to serve more students at Green Academy, we will return to the Communication Arts & Sciences (CAS) small school after a year's hiatus, and we are discussing the possible return to Academic Choice, where we last coached way back in the early years of WCC. 
• We will bring WCC for the first time to Richmond, serving 150 English Language Development students in our pilot program at Richmond High.

More students, more classes for 2012-13 -- we're already excited!

Bob Menzimer

Help WCC recruit at upcoming Oakland events

We are fast approaching a big weekend for WriterCoach Connection recruiting in Oakland. The first week of August is going to be very busy, as we will be tabling at Coast Guard Day on August 3 and at Oakland Art & Soul on August 4-5. Both events are sure to be lots of fun. Any and all help tabling and talking to potential volunteers would be greatly appreciated on any of these days, either on Coast Guard Island or in downtown Oakland! 

Coast Guard Day, Coast Guard Island
Friday, August 3, 10 - 3pm

Oakland Art & Soul, downtown Oakland
Saturday, August 4, 2pm - 8pm (and music continues until midnight this year!)
Sunday, August 5, noon - 6pm

If you'd like to help out, please email or call me (Cami, oakwcc at gmail.com or 510-306-1792) to sign up for a 1-2 hour timeslot on one of the three days. We will have a limited number of free passes for Art & Soul volunteers, who will have a chance to enjoy the festival before or after working at our booth. 

Thanks so much,
Camille (Cami) Graves

Summer recruitment heats up!

WriterCoach Connection attends many of the east bay's summer street fairs to get out the word about our rewarding volunteer program. Most recently, representatives spread the word about our fulfilling volunteer opportunity at Berkeley's Juneteenth Festival and El Cerrito's 4th of July Festival. 

We're excited to be in contact with potential new coaches like Carolyn Ozonsi (at left in photo). Board member Cynthia Barnes-Slater, at right, was one of many WCC members who shared their WCC experience with festival-goers and encouraged them to sign up!