826LA is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting students ages 6 to 18 with their creative and expository writing skills, and to helping teachers inspire their students to write.
Our services are structured around our understanding that great leaps in learning can happen with one-on-one attention, and that strong writing skills are fundamental to future success.
With this in mind, we provide drop-in tutoring, after-school workshops, in-schools tutoring, help for English language learners, and assistance with student publications.
All of our programs are challenging and enjoyable, and ultimately strengthen each student's power to express ideas effectively, creatively, confidently, and in his or her individual voice.
Eyewitness Reports A benefit art auction in support of 826LA
In celebration of the new children's book OH NO! by artist Dan Santat and writer Mac Barnett, thirty-seven great children's artists are auctioning off original art through an online auction (learn more).
Winning bidders receive the winning art piece along with an official
police report filled out by the artist, a copy of OH NO! signed by Mac
Barnett and Dan Santat, and an exclusive limited edition print. All proceeds benefit 826LA.
And now, I'm going to write about a workshop I didn't teach this weekend. 826LA volunteer Brendan Carn led this one, and he brought his friends/fellow musicians Chris and Colin to help out.
The premise: so much of communication, whether written or musical, is about evocation. Brendan and Chris and Colin, at times, played musical phrases that our students translated into words and phrases. At other times, our students game them writing that they converted into music. This was the basic template, and it grew into things more and more elaborate until the workshop reached its zenith—from a single four-note motif, groups of students crafted some very different stories, which were then backed by our musical trio at the afternoon's final reading.
Was this a standard writing workshop? Not really. But we at 826LA believe that writing influences and is influenced by everything (pretty much), and our collaboration with Brendan and the Hammer was a perfect place to showcase this. Check out the video playlist below to get a taste of what the workshop was like, and come to our next one (as a student or as a volunteer) to experience things in person.
I taught a workshop this past Saturday, and I had a feeling the student work would be amazing. I'd no idea it would be this amazing, though.
Before sharing their work, let me share some background. At 826LA, it's very important for us to enable students to say what they want to say. There can be a little bit of mischief at workshops because we're all that way sometimes. I wanted to teach something that'd let students be a little more mischievous than usual, if they so desired, and so I taught a propaganda workshop. (Our working definition: propaganda is the spreading of ideas, and it tends to overrely on emotional appeals and dis/misinformation).
Of course, propaganda can and has been used for purposes a little beyond mischievous, so I made everyone swear the following oath before we started:
I do so solemnly swear,
knowing that the power of propaganda may be used for deception and evil,
that I will use what I learn in this workshop only for good,
or, at worst, for mild-to-moderate mischief.
And now, we present a couple of pieces of propaganda: a poster by Anatalia and a pamphlet by Sam. You can find the entire set here.
(I hope you'll forgive the mild-to-moderate mischief I've perpetrated in using this propaganda to help us fundraise for our Spelling Bee for Cheaters. I'm sure you can find a worthy team to support here.)
826LA Presents: A SPELLING BEE FOR CHEATERS, a tournament of verbal smarts and fraudulence hosted by 826LA and the creators of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.
The event will take place at Lincoln Middle School in Santa Monica at 2:00 p.m. on August 14, 2010. Participants will register online and raise money beforehand to increase their chances of winning. This year, Spike Jonze, John Krasinski, Dianna Agron, Dave Eggers and others are scheduled to appear. Will YOU be there to out-spell and out-cheat the competition?
All money goes to support 826LA's free writing and tutoring programs for Los Angeles students, ages 6–18. Registration is open to the public at http://www.826la.org/spellingbee. Space is limited, so register today!
Among the many projects 826LA embarks on, the Young Authors' Book Project is perhaps our greatest and (objectively, of course) most exciting endeavor. This project always results in students becoming published authors while still in high school, a fact we find hard not to be proud of. With that said, we at 826LA are more than eagerly anticipating the upcoming release of the newest YABP book, You Never Forget How to Ride a Bike: Lessons Learned by the Students of John Marshall High School. The young authors lead us through the moments that have shaped their lives—among them encounters with Def Leppard albums, wormy peaches, campus police, and Salvadoran gangs—and share with us the things they've learned about the kindness of strangers, resolve in the presence of naysayers, and the value of a dollar. A celebratory release party is in the works for Wednesday, June 23, at Skylight Books. You won't want to miss these young (and newly published!) authors reading their works aloud and the first opportunity to buy this highly anticipated book.
Last week at Echo Park tutoring, after-school student Oscar told us he'd been awarded the March Student of the Month at Micheltorena Street Elementary School in Silver Lake, where he's currently in 6th grade. Oscar has been attending after-school tutoring at 826LA East since the second week we opened (in January 2008)! Here's a little something he wrote a couple months back:
My name is Oscar and I am 11 years old. I go to Micheltorena. I like soccer and baseball. I live in an apartment that looks like a house. I like hanging around with my friends. That's all.
Congratulations, Oscar! That's all. (<--- one of Oscar's trademark last lines)
Please join 826LA for an exclusive screening of Drones
followed by a Q&A with members of the cast and crew
and an after-party featuring Dan Bern and Common Rotation
826LA is looking for interns! Come exercise your writing skills, work directly with teachers and students, and gain valuable experience in the many aspects of educational programming and event planning.
More »
STAPLES Gift Cards.
Trader Joe's Gift Cards.
High-speed color copier.
Digital video camera with external mic.
Digital projector.
White printer paper.
Notebooks and loose leaf paper for kids.
Erasers.
Pens.
Office tape.
Staplers.
Paperclips.
Large butcher paper pads.
Name tags.
Paper cups.
Drinks for the kids in tutoring. More »
