WriterCoach Connection

From Oakland Local: WCC is looking for volunteers!

We're grateful to Oakland Local for taking up WCC's call for volunteers at Fremont High! Here's what they said:

""It's been great to see my students, wary at first, now opening up to sharing their writing with a new audience," says teacher Sonja Totten-Harris.

Totten-Harris says she also appreciates the feedback that WCC site coordinators give teachers in addition to the feedback they give students. "[The site coordinators] were great thinking partners about the assignments—what was working, what wasn't. They provided a useful outside perspective."

WriterCoach volunteers form important bonds with students, and both coaches and students can be inspired by the experience. Totten-Harris believes that students become validated when they realize there are people ready to listen to their thoughts. It's often not until someone is willing to listen that kids learn that they even have something to say, but that's only the first step. Through coaching, students also begin to learn that their ideas matter. Especially in Oakland, such a revelation can make a lasting impression. Just this fall, the Mejia twins, sisters who both graduated from Fremont High and were coached through WriterCoach Connection, began their first semester at Yale University."

Check out the full story—and be sure to register to volunteer!

Camille (Cami) Graves
Oakland Volunteer Coordinator

Strollin' and coachin'

On Sept. 9, a perfectly sun-splashed Bay Area Sunday, a boothful of writer coaches beckoned Solano Strollers to enter the world of truly meaningful volunteering in public schools, as we set up shop at our traditional spot for the 2012 edition of Berkeley and Albany's biggest street fair of the year. By the end of the day, 36 people had put pen to sign-up sheet, ready for coach training and eager to begin working one on one with students across our 12 East Bay school sites.

Setting up shop: Here are (l. to r.) El Cerrito High School Site Co-coordinator Lynda Frank, Berkeley/Albany Volunteer Coordinator Mona Kafoury, and 2011-12 WCC Volunteer of the Year Anne Good,  ready for action as the day begins:

 

And we're off! The tail end of the traditional Solano Stroll kickoff parade had barely passed by when Strollers began flocking to the WCC booth:

 

Conversations bubbled up all day, in front of the booth and out in the middle of the street, where WCC Longfellow Middle School coach Larry Bensky was spinning the WCC story for Strollers of all ages:

 

WCC coach Ali Huetter describes the coaching experience...

 

...and another volunteer is hooked!

 

Late-afternoon shadows begin to drape Solano Avenue, and if you guess that the lanky figure declaring the day a success for WCC is Longfellow Middle School Site Co-coordinator Mark Pasley, you'll be right!

 

Bob Menzimer

Berkeleyside picks up our call for volunteers!

Thank you to the local independent news site Berkeleyside.com for sharing WCC's volunteer opportunity with its readers! 

Read the article > 

If you're looking for a rewarding volunteer opportunity, we encourage you to register now for WCC's 2012-13 coaching year, which is fast approaching. As the article aptly puts it, "WriterCoach Connection warmly welcomes parents, college students, working and retired people, and community members of all backgrounds, ethnicities and walks of life." Register today!

Christine McGuinness

Three Cheers for Calapalooza

Calapalooza, the annual UC student activity fair, kicked the year off to a lively start for Cal student organization 'WriterCoach Connection at Berkeley'.

At this August 23rd event, dozens of Cal students signed up to become WriterCoach Connection volunteers with the encouragement of WCCB vice chair Jenny Chang, volunteer manager Jordan Bach-Lombardo, former chair Farah Kadar, chairperson Jina Yoo, and others. We thank you for all your terrific work!

WCC welcomes students from all local colleges and universities, and even offers special training times to fit back-to-school schedules. Register here!

Lynn Mueller

Volunteers stream to WCC booth at Oakland's Art & Soul Festival

The weather was overcast and cool for the first day of Oakland's 2012 Art & Soul Festival on August 4, but the action was all sunshine smiles and heat at the WriterCoach Connection booth. Community members were still signing up as we finally began closing up shop for the night at 8:00 p.m., at which point nearly 40 people had filled our sign-up sheets. And that was with another full day of the festival still ahead of us!

We'll need more volunteers than ever before to train as coaches this year, as we expand to Richmond for the first time and double the number of students we serve at Berkeley High, while serving the same student cohorts at our other sites in Oakland, Berkeley, Albany, and El Cerrito. 

Bring it on!

It was like this all day long at the Art & Soul WCC booth. We barely had time to snag free ribs at the booth up the street!

Another volunteer signs up for coach training! We'll need in the neighborhood of 600 coaches this year to work with more than 2,000 students in four East Bay school districts.

Bob Menzimer

Richmond Recruitment Heats Up In July

The greater Richmond community continues to step up to support its youth!

In July, WCC representatives got to know community members at a variety of summer Richmond events, including the Pt. Richmond Farmer’s Market, Music on the Main, and the Healthy Village Farm Stand. Many Richmond residents have jumped at the opportunity to volunteer at our fall program at Richmond High School. Make sure you're one of them—volunteer to become a WCC coach!

We're happy to report that informational brochures about WCC have been flying off our tables at these events (both figuratively and literally...Richmond can be really windy!)

Shelli Fried
Recruitment Coordinator

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

 

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!

Congratulations to our second group of Richmond High School WCC volunteers!

On June 19, we wrapped up the second WCC training held at Richmond High School. We are thrilled to have such community-minded and committed volunteers ready to coach at Richmond High School in the fall. We can't wait to be a part of the RHS Oilers family!

Karen Larson

Now's the time to become a volunteer for WCC at Richmond High School — or any of our locations!