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A Fundraising Campaign for WriterCoach Connection of Albany
Hear Me Out! Finale - Sunday, March 28, 4 - 6pm | |
Sarah Whitmer, coaching a student at Albany Middle School
“You are the first adult
I’ve ever been able to trust”
… words spoken by a young writer
to his writing coach at the end of a year.
When listened to and heard, youth not only trust in others—they learn to trust themselves. And when they trust themselves, they are more readily able to bring their gifts and their voices forward—like new wings into the world.
WriterCoach Connection helps develop the writing and critical thinking skills of students in public schools by recruiting and training community volunteers to work with the students, one-on-one, in English class on their writing assignments.
The recent budget crisis and cuts have left WriterCoach Connection with very little funding in Albany. The program continues this year on a very limited basis at Albany Middle School, and is currently on hold at Albany High. With availability of Albany parcel tax revenues for WCC programs next year uncertain, community contributions, including your donation, are a critical part of funding even a limited program next year. Coaching at each school next year also depends on the availability of site-based funding, and the willingness of the respective school communities and administrations to allocate some of it for WCC.
The "Hear Me Out!" fundraising campaign was launched in order to raise money to help fund WCC programs in Albany schools, as well as raise awareness of the value and popularity of WCC coaching. This effort is being sponsored by the WriterCoach Connection (WCC), the East Bay Nation of Men, and other community members. The campaign is primarily comprised of two interlocking components - a poetry workshop involving youth followed by a poetry reading.
The Poetry Workshop
Albany Middle Schoolers with a passion for poetry, and the desire to experience the one-on-one coaching that the WCC is noted for, will spend seven weeks with local poets reading, writing, revising and reciting poetry.
At the end of this intensive workshop the written poems will be compiled in an anthology, which will be unveiled at a poetry reading, the finale of Hear Me Out!
The Poetry Reading and Finale
“The spirit wants only that there
be flying.”
— Rainer Maria Rilke
The poetry reading is far more than the finale of Hear Me Out! It is the manifestation of what’s possible when youth are heard. In reading their poetry publicly, these young writers will simultaneously celebrate themselves as poets and champion the good works of WriterCoach Connection, a program that inspires trust, self-discovery, and the pursuit of the creative spirit.
In addition to the readings, coaches, teachers, and parents will share heart-felt stories of how the WCC has changed lives and enriched the spirit of our community. As a special treat, Stone Soup Improv will delight us with some zany poetry-based skits.
Hear Me Out! Finale
Sunday, March 28, 4 - 6pm
Thousand Oaks Baptist Church —
1821 Catalina Ave, Berkeley
Admission to this
celebratory fundraising event will be free.
Guests will be respectfully invited to make a donation to support our work. Refreshments will be served.
Please RSVP – Space is Limited!
Child care available by reservation. Please include your needs with your RSVP. There will also be supervision at the Thousand Oaks School playground across the street for older children. |
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For more information, contact the Hear Me Out! Event Manager.
By giving to Hear Me Out! you will help WriterCoach Connection in Albany survive these unpredictable economic times. Even a $10 or $20 donation makes a difference (and a larger donation - $50, $100, or more - would be sheer poetry!).
Donating here is an easy and secure way to support WriterCoach Connection. WCC is a program of the nonprofit Community Alliance for Learning.
If you prefer to
donate by check, please make it payable to CAFL
and mail to:
Hear Me Out!, PO Box 6098, Albany, CA 94706
