WriterCoach Connection

Students at Richmond High welcome their writing coaches!

Members of the Richmond community gathered on Wednesday for a ribbon-cutting ceremony at RHS to honor the commitment made by 77 volunteer coaches, Richmond High School teachers and administration, and the West Contra Costa school district to improving crucial communication skills needed for success in school, career, and life. 

Richmond Mayor Gayle McLaughlin, school superintendent Dr. Bruce Harter, and Richmond High Principal Julio Franco were joined in comments with Terri Waller, District Director, Office of Senator Loni Hancock; Damian Alarcon, Field Representative/Constituent Services, Office of Congressman George Miller; and Tom Waller, Richmond Chamber of Commerce. Richmond High School Assistant Principal Kibby Kleiman and WCCUSD Board Member Antonio Medrano also attended the event. 

Executive Director Robert Menzimer and Richmond Volunteer Coordinator Shelli Fried were joined by WriterCoach Connection founder Mary Lee Cole, several members of the Community Alliance for Learning board and advisory board, and many WCC coaches from Richmond, El Cerrito, and other locations. Richmond Site Coordinator Karen Larson attended in spirit, as she and a dozen coaches were busy coaching during the celebration!

At Richmond High, trained coaches are serving 156 ELD Level 4 students in 5 classes, grades 9-12. Each student in full attendance will receive 14-16 individual coaching sessions.  

Richmond Mayor Gayle McLaughlin remarks at the ceremony. Photo by Mary DeShaw.

 

Richmond High School WCC ribbon cutting. Photo by Mary DeShaw.

 

WCC coach Ben Steinberg signs the ribbon after the ceremony. Photo by Mary DeShaw.

 

Richmond High Principal Julio Franco and Richmond School Superintendent Dr. Bruce Harter. Photo by Mary DeShaw.

 

CAFL Executive Director Robert Menzimer and Richmond Volunteer Coordinator Shelli Fried at RHS. Photo by Mary DeShaw.

Bob Menzimer shares a key insight about this proven program: “By bringing community volunteers into the schools as trained writer coaches, we widen the perspectives of both coaches and students. Volunteers experience the reality of contemporary public education and the positive impact they can have on it.  Students feel the benefit of positive adult feedback and gain a deeper understanding of community.  Both students and volunteers benefit from a cross-generational exchange of ideas and experience.” 

Superintendent Harter says: “WriterCoach Connection works. Student writing achievement goes up, teachers get much-needed relief with the extra individual attention to students, community members bond with their schools as they walk the hallways with their students and sit with them to help develop more effective writing and deeper critical thinking. Everyone wins, and we need more of it.” 

Many thanks to the Richmond Chamber of Commerce for sponsoring the event today and for their critical support as we opened the volunteer opportunity to caring community members who are now coaching RHS students. 

Christine McGuinness 

Contra Costa Times: WriterCoach Connection debuts in Richmond

Thanks to reporter Robert Rogers, Contra Costa Times readers will learn a bit more about WriterCoach Connection's history and its upcoming debut at Richmond High School this fall.

In today's article, Rogers describes the strong and steady expansion of the program from 35 coaches serving 180 Berkeley High School students in 2001, to its current capacity of 530 coaches serving 2000+ students at 12 sites. The Richmond community has welcomed the program introduction: "Menzimer said Richmond High seemed like a natural fit. When West Contra Costa school district Superintendent Bruce Harter expressed interest in Menzimer bringing his program to Richmond High, he jumped at the chance."

Richmond, here we come!

Christine McGuinness

April showers bring...a new WCC newsletter

WriterCoach Connection is full of good news these days—our expansion to Richmond, our upcoming events, and our ever-growing opportunities to coach. We want to share all that news with you!

The first enewsletter has just been sent to all our WCC fans. We plan to send it four to six times a year: just enough to keep you on top of the most interesting WCC news without cluttering your inbox. We hope you'll continue to stay subscribed even if you're no longer a coach—so that you can stay tapped into your community and the program that you've helped to grow!  

If you'd like to be on our mailing list but didn't get the newsletter, view the newsletter, and please sign up so that you receive the next one. 

Christine McGuinness 

At Mills College: more WriterCoach Connection volunteer recruiting

Oakland Volunteer Coordinator Karen Larson and her redoubtable band of volunteer recruiters were at it for the second time in three days on Monday, March 12, setting up shop at the Mills College Internship Fair. She and WCC volunteers Nick Keefe, Anne Steinberg, and Kent Wright attracted 15 signups from undergraduate and graduate students interested in WCC for this fall. Valuable outreach!

Here are Anne and Nick, ready for business:

 

Bob Menzimer

Lots of WriterCoach Connection action at the Oakland Volunteer Fair

On Saturday, March 10, WCC Oakland Volunteer Coordinator Karen Larson and a cadre of WCC compatriots set up shop behind the WriterCoach Connection table at the annual Oakland Volunteer Fair, at City Hall. The air filled with conversation about writing support as volunteers checked out how to sign up for coach training and how to help the program in a variety of other ways.

Many thanks to Karen and to her loyal associates Mary Ann Benson, Ellen Shaffer, and Ken Yee for helping to spread the word!

Here's Karen in action, a blur of enthusiasm, as usual:

Photo by Mary Ann Benson

Bob Menzimer

WCC helps prepare West County students for life after high school

WriterCoach Connection is getting bigger again in West Contra Costa County next fall, with a pilot program at Richmond High School. As part of its expanding role in West County, Community Alliance for Learning, the nonprofit parent of WriterCoach Connection, is participating in a range of education initiatives with the school district and with other nonprofit organizations. 

One of those initiatives in an active role in the new West County College Access Network (WCCAN), a broad consortium of organizations and programs brought together by the West Contra Costa Public Education Fund (The Ed. Fund). WCCAN is formulating a variety of strategies to support improved access to post-secondary education for West County students.

Because of CAFL's expanding role in West County, WCC volunteers have opportunties to offer direct help to West County students beyond writer coaching. Last year, several of our coaches attended a Scholar's Workshop, sponsored by The Ed. Fund, at which we helped students craft personal statements in support of scholarships from donors. This year, we'll be inviting our coaches to help students prepare personal statements for college applications at the District's Getting Ready for College and Career Conference on Saturday, March 17.

Our presence in West Contra Costa County was a long time coming and it means a great deal to us. We relish the opportunity to engage West County students and teachers in a variety of productive ways.

Bob Menzimer

WriterCoach Connection in the business community

In October, we joined a group of fellow nonprofit organizations at an employee outreach event sponsored by Dreyer's Ice Cream, in association with the Dreyer's parent company Nestle, U.S.A., for the corporation's Community CARE Campaign.

The event offered an opportunity present information about WCC to Dreyer's corporate employees, who are invited to donate to a selected nonprofit program a day's pay and then become eligible for a 50% match from the Nestle Foundation.

On hand to present WCC to Dreyer's employees were  WCC Oakland Site and Volunteer Coordinator Karen Larson (second from right, below) and Community Alliance for Learning board member Shelli Fried (right, below). The lunch-hour event was overcast and drippy, but enthusiasm among Dreyer's employees was sunny and bright!

Bob Menzimer