In celebration of reading and writing for a cause, a Berkeley library becomes a literary café for a day

Tomorrow, I'll be participating in the WriterCoach Connection's seventh annual Read-and-Write-a-Thon. Beginning at 8 a.m. and continuing for 10 consecutive hours, volunteers, students and supporters -- including yours truly -- will share their love of the written and spoken word in the Library at Longfellow Middle School in Berkeley. 

Imagine a library transformed into a literary café ... 

This will be my third Read-and-Write-a-Thon.

At around 9:20 a.m. Saturday morning, I'll be reading from The Children of Willesden Lane, a memoir of music, love and survival, written by Mona Golabek, which became a one-woman play that recently enjoyed a successful run at the Berkeley Rep earlier this year. 

A backstory ...

As many of you know, since 2013, I've been involved with WriterCoach Connection, a non-profit program now in its 15th year. I'm one of more than 700 volunteers working one-on-one with middle- and high-school kids. We are now coaching in 11 schools throughout the East Bay. It's a remarkable program, winning rave reviews from teachers as well from kids. 

This year, I have been working individually with a variety of seventh and eighth grade students at Longfellow Middle School in Berkeley. My students represent a microcosm of the school's student body -- black, white, Asian, Hispanic -- and of the city of Berkeley, too. It has been a uniquely rewarding experience to see my students become more critical thinkers and confident writers.

My goal as a writing coach is simple and straight-forward, yet heartfelt: to help strengthen a student's writing skills and help them develop their ideas. And, through the use of positive encouragement and showing care, I believe I am making a difference in each student's educational development.

We believe all students can discover the power and richness of their own voices and learn to communicate their ideas with clarity, confidence and pride. Most important to me is that WCC gives more than 2,200 students undivided, positive attention, and for many of those students, it's the only time they ever get that from an adult.

In my first Read-and-Write-a-Thon experience,
I read an essay by humorist Calvin Trillin.

This year marks my third year to participate in the Read-and-Write-a-Thon. Two years ago, I read from humorist Calvin Trillin and last year I chose a baseball essay by Roger Angell. The Read-and-Write-a-Thon is our major fundraiser of the year and helps bridges the gap between what the program costs and what we can raise from school budgets and grants. And this is where you can help:

I'm writing to ask if you might support me, our readers, and this wonderful program by sponsoring our Read-and-Write-a-Thon.

If you can help, please go to www.writercoachconnection.org, click on the Read-and-Write-a-Thon banner, and you'll land on our fundraising page.

Whatever you can give, thank you so much for keeping us going. Those 2,200 kids, my fellow volunteer coaches, and dozens of sainted English teachers thank you, too. 

Stories and ideas: a celebration of words

A celebration of words /
My first Read-and-Write-a-thon experience
was a year ago this weekend.

Looking back on a year ago this weekend, I had never participated in a read-a-thon and, honestly, didn't really know what to expect. Would I be nervous? Would I be confident? Would the audience warm to my literary selection?

At 9 a.m. on a sunny, spring Saturday morning, as I recall, it was my turn to read in the WriterCoach Connection Read-and-Write-a-thon at Longfellow Middle School Library in Berkeley, an annual event in support of the WriterCoach Connection (WCC) program, a small but remarkable non-profit. Since 2001, WCC has brought one-on-one writing support to thousands of of middle school and high school students of all skill levels in the East Bay cities of Oakland, Richmond, Berkeley, El Cerrito and Albany. This year, more than 650 coaches are working with over 2,200 students.

Looking back on my first Read-and-Write-a-thon experience, I was both humbled and amazed. There was much generosity and support from the dozen-or-so who came early in the day to the library at the time I read a selected passage from Calvin Trillin's Tummy Trilogy, an ode to food. They focused on my every spoken word for the 15 minutes in which I commanded their attentiveness.

Fast forward a year and this Saturday, it's time for me to participate in the WriterCoach Connection's sixth annual Read-and-Write-a-thon. For 10 consecutive hours, volunteers like me, students and supporters will share their love of the written and spoken word. There's bound to be poetry read as well as passages from novels -- even a yearly tradition of the reading of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. It's our major fundraiser of the year, and it helps bridge the gap between what the WCC costs and what we're able to raise from school budgets and grants.

This year, I have been working individually with a variety of seventh and eighth grade students at Longfellow Middle School in Berkeley. My students represent a microcosm of the school's student body -- black, white, Asian, Hispanic -- and of the city of Berkeley, too. It has been a uniquely rewarding experience to see my students become more critical thinkers and confident writers.

My goal as a writing coach is simple and straight-forward, yet heartfelt: to help strengthen a student's writing skills and help them develop their ideas. And, through the use of positive encouragement and showing care, I believe I am making a difference in each student's educational development.

If you would like to support me, our readers, and this wonderful program by making a small donation, that would be very cool. If you can help, please go to www.writercoachconnection.org, click on the blue Read-and-Write-a-thon banner, and you'll land on our fundraising page.

Whatever you can do, thank you so much for keeping us going. No pledge is too small. In fact, $10 will buy the paper and pencils a class needs to keep writing all year. Those 2,200 kids, my fellow volunteer coaches, and dozens of English teachers thank you, too. Donate because kids write the future.

And, if you're in Berkeley on Saturday morning around 9:45 a.m., when I'll be reading a baseball tale about Willie Mays from Roger Angell's Game Time, feel free to drop in at the Longfellow Middle School Library where the Read-and-Write-a-thon will be taking place from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. There will be some light snacks and refreshments available -- and the library will be transformed into an enjoyable literary café atmosphere full of stories and ideas.

Photo by Bob Menzimer.

A celebration of words: Sharing the stage to read and listen to stories and ideas

I read from Calvin Trillin's The Tummy Trilogy
during the fifth annual WriterCoach Connection's
Read-and-Write-a-thon at Longfellow Middle School.

Last Saturday morning, I participated in the fifth annual WriterCoach Connection Read-and-Write-a-thon at Longfellow Middle School Library in Berkeley.

I had never participated in a read-a-thon and, honestly, didn't really know what to expect. Would I be nervous? Would I be confident? Would my voice project adequately? Would the audience warm to my literary selection?

During the 75 minutes I spent at the WriterCoach Connection Read-and-Write-a-thon, which began my activity-filled Saturday (and, later, would include stops at two busy grocery stores, plus an evening birthday/bowling party on the other side of the Bay), I was both humbled and amazed. There was much generosity from the dozen-or-so supporters in the library at the time I read, who focused on my every spoken word for the 15 minutes in which I commanded their attentiveness.

For those who were inspired and dropped in at the Longfellow Middle School Library-cum-literary café between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m., they were greeted with a comfortable and inviting setting as well as a nice selection of good, healthy eats in which to enjoy an assortment of non-stop poetry (lots of Emily Dickinson), prose (Henry David Thoreau and David Halberstam), children's literature (Dr. Seuss) and fiction (Téa Obreht and Flann O'Brien, among many) ~ even a reading of Abraham Lincoln's famous speech "The Gettysburg Address." The Read-and-Write-a-Thon was spread over 10 consecutive hours as an ever-changing cast of writing coaches and students shared center stage (actually, it was a comfy sofa) to read and listen to stories and ideas that give life and light to our world.

When it was my turn to read at 9 a.m., I calmly walked up to the front of the spacious reading room, immediately made eye contact with the audience, and enthusiastically read about food and travel from The Tummy Trilogy by the American humorist Calvin Trillin, who through his books American Fried; Alice, Let's Eat; and Third Helpings, established himself as, in Craig Claiborne's phrase, "the Walt Whitman of American eats."

In the opening chapter from American Fried, "The Traveling Man's Burden," I read aloud Trillin's written words and tried to inject some of his wry humor with just the right amount of wit, sarcasm, and the occasional pause for dramatic effect:

"The best restaurants in the world are, of course, in Kansas City. (pause) Not all of them; (pause) only the top four or five."

The opening paragraph drew nice laughter from the audience. Immediately, I realized I had made a good literary choice, and the polite-but-hearty applause I received at the end of my reading made me feel good inside.  I flashed a big smile as I returned to the table my wife and I shared, and enjoyed some fresh strawberries and cheddar cheese. Afterwards, I learned that Trillin had been a past donor to the WCC Read-and-Write-a-thon.

Indeed, my first read-a-thon experience was a positive one.

That night, on the WCC website, there was high praise to go along with an impressive list of donors who contributed to the Read-and-Write-a-thon. "Everyone who attended agreed that this was the best Read-and-Write-a-thon ever! In addition to inspired 15-minute individual readings, highlights included a large group of student readings, a spirited game of team Literary Jeopardy, and a moving group reading of "The Laramie Project."

This year, I have been volunteering with the WriterCoach Connection (WCC) -- a program of the non-profit Community Alliance for Learning -- that helps students become more competent and confident writers. WCC does this by matching middle- and high-school kids with community volunteers -- like me -- for one-on-one coaching during their English classes.

The WCC now has more than 600 volunteer coaches, from all cultures and backgrounds -- parents, grandparents, working and retired people, and recent college graduates -- working in 10 San Francisco Bay Area public schools. I have been a volunteer at Longfellow Middle School in Berkeley, where this year we've already held more than 2,200 individual coaching sessions.

My goal as a writing coach is simple and straight-forward, yet heartfelt: To help strengthen a student's writing skills and help them develop their ideas. And, through the use of positive encouragement and showing care, I believe I am making a difference in these students.

Some of my students have been easy to connect with while others have been shy and reserve in their demeanor. They include boys and girls, Hispanics, Asians, Native Americans, blacks and whites -- a microcosm of Berkeley's population. Sometimes, I sense discouragement when I sit down with a student. However, I try to convey hope and enthusiasm and, I always ask: "What can I help you with today?"

Volunteering as a writer coach has been a uniquely rewarding experience for me. I've enjoyed seeing my students become more critical thinkers and confident writers, and there's the satisfaction of giving them a quiet and positive space in their busy school day to thrive in. Of course, too, there's witnessing the gratitude of dedicated teachers whom we serve. It's an experience I look forward to repeating next school year.

As the current school term winds down, I sense that my students are becoming more confident in their abilities not to mention more competent in their writing and thinking skills.

After all, inside every student there is a writer.