In-Schools
This past year our chapters served more than 5,600 students in their schools.
OUR GOALS:
• To help public school teachers take on ambitious projects they coudn’t do otherwise
• To give students one-on-one attention, and let them know their work is valued
• To use the Socratic method to help students arrive at their own answers
• To take students through multiple drafts as their work evolves
• To provide public school students with mentorship from community professionals
Because it is sometimes not feasible for classes to come to us, we frequently go to them. We dispatch teams of volunteers into local schools to provide one-on-one assistance to students as they tackle various projects, such as school newspapers, research papers, oral histories, and college entrance essays. This has become a major part of what we do, and a great way for us to reach students who might not, on their own, reach out for our help. The demand for these services is also overwhelming. Teachers in all classrooms are looking for more adults to come and give their students writing support. Again, it is with the individual attention, we know and teachers know, that students can make great progress.
826 Writers’ Rooms: Two of our 826 sites have established permanent, dynamic spaces on school campuses where our services are offered to students during the day. During school hours, teachers send students to the Writers’ Room in groups of ten to fifteen to receive one-on-one feedback on their work from trained and prepared 826 tutors. Students and tutors tackle assignments together, which may include biographical narratives, persuasive essays, and other academic endeavors. 826 Valencia opened its first Writers' Room at Everett Middle School and its second at James Lick Middle School in San Francisco. 826NYC has established a Writers' Room in the Williamsburgh Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library.
We also work with the students to create and publish newspapers in schools that in some cases have never offered journalism classes or have had to drop it from the class roster due to financial constraints. Straight Up News is the name of a student produced paper out of Everett Middle School in San Francisco.
We are confident that this type of one-on-one attention will have a tremendous impact on student achievement and engagement in the school. It is already having a profound effect on the way teachers teach and students learn. Teachers are telling us that skills are improving, grades are going up, and the students want to come to their Writers’ Room.
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