Volunteers needed for writer coaching program

September 7, 2012 4:45 pm by Tracey Taylor

WriterCoach Connection relies on volunteers

The WriterCoach Connection program is starting up again at four Berkeley schools (along with schools in Oakland, El Cerrito, Albany, and, as of this year, Richmond), and volunteers are needed.

You don’t have to be a writer or teacher to volunteer. WriterCoach Connection warmly welcome parents, college students, working and retired people, and community members of all backgrounds, ethnicities and walks of life.

WriterCoach Connection is a volunteer-based program that recruits and trains local volunteers to work one on one with students in both middle and high schools to develop writing and literacy skills. Its program has shown to be consistently effective in improving writing skills and its surveys and data confirm this. (Read more about the program’s results on its website.)

Coaches strengthen writing skills with individual feedback, challenge students to think more deeply, and encourage them, building their confidence. “It’s the most satisfying work I’ve done in the schools,” says one writing coach.  And teachers say, “the writing improves dramatically.”

WriterCoach Connection provides volunteers with excellent training and mentoring.  If you can make a commitment of only 1.5 hours per week, 2-3 times per month, you can enjoy the satisfaction of making a difference for Berkeley middle and high school students.

Volunteer trainings are happening now, with writer coaching set to begin very soon.

To learn more or sign up, visit WriterCoach Connection or call the organization’s Berkeley Volunteer Coordinator, Mona Kafoury at 510-704-0538.

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2 Comments

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  • WFA67

    I volunteered in this program when it was just starting some years ago. Really enjoyed it. Fifteen or twenty minutes working with a student on a current writing assignment. The training recommended starting by finding something you like in the student’s writing*, then continuing from there to suggest improvements.

    If you have an hour or two to spare it’s a great way to make a difference. I occasionally expressed this as “Writing is about editing. When you write, you are editing your thoughts. And your thoughts are your life.”

    How often does a teenager get one-on-one attention these days? By all reports the teachers have been very grateful for the program.

    *Caveat: I may have been fooled by stuff out of Wikipedia, though perhaps what I appreciated about it sunk in as a lesson, in spite of words not being ‘original’.

  • Annaa

    A great program that teaches process writing.  Anyone with time should volunteer.