Writer Night

Program Goals

We’ve been working hard to figure out where we are going and what Second Story wants to accomplish on the program end of things with our organization. I think it’s important to share our goals for the 2010-2011 school year. Overall, we want to follow this simple mission: We help kids love writing and that helps them succeed.

More specifically, our goals are:

• To see 90+ percent of students involved in the program report a more positive attitude about writing as indicated on surveys and interviews.

• To see 70+ percent of students involved in the program improve measurable language arts skills as indicated in pre- and post-tests.

• To provide 50 percent of students involved in the program hands-on exposure to new-media technology tools linked with writing such as podcasts, blogs, digital photography and audio as indicated in project completion and public presentation.

• To provide 100 percent of students involved in the program tangible products of their efforts — such as a book or DVD — so they can share these with friends, relatives and neighbors as indicated in project completion and public presentation.

We are working to accomplish this by doing the following:

• Reach 150 children in grades 3-6 by bringing teaching artists and student/volunteer teams to offsite after-school programs located in six urban neighborhoods (3 per semester).

• Reach 30 middle school children (7th and 8th) from urban neighborhoods with a program that includes digital technology and writing in the Near East in the spring of 2011.

• Reach 20 middle school children at IPS School No. 2 with a continuation of a successful writing and publishing partnership with the teacher.

• Reach 80 children through in-school efforts at elementary schools in the Southeast and Near East.

• Reach 150 children from the Southeast and nearby neighborhoods in drop-in after-school writing tutoring and homework help in the new facility located in Fountain Square.

• Reach 120 children from the city and area for workshops and special events in the new facility located in Fountain Square.

Estimated number of students between grades 3-8 served in 2010-2011: 550

Products

One of the important aspects of encouraging young people to write is helping them create tangible final products — books or DVDs — and connecting these with public celebrations like reading, book signings and screenings.

During 2010-2011, Second Story will produce a series of short “City Stories” books from each neighborhood, asking students to write about their lives in their neighborhoods, about their favorite places, about their homes and families. These stories will be created as individual books for each neighborhood and then combined into one anthology at the end of the school year. Along the way, these stories can be used in various ways online and in print to talk about the neighborhoods, and the program and its partners.

Second Story will also work with middle school students to produce audio slideshows — digital photos paired with audio interviews — about near eastside success stories. These video stories an also be linked and shared online.

Other organizational program goals

• To employ five paid teaching artists from the community (experienced, professional writers and teachers) in part-time positions in 2010-2011, with the long-term goal of employing 20+ in the next five years.

• To develop and offer training sessions and workshops for current and potential teaching artists and volunteers on a quarterly basis — with the goals of helping them develop their skills as teachers and also building community within this group of writers and teachers.

• To continue solidifying relationships with English and education departments at University of Indianapolis, IUPUI, Butler and Marian University as a source of teaching artists as interns.

• To develop, in 2010-2011, new initiatives including creative writing for the family and a collaborative-teaching approach that connects visual art and creative writing projects.

ByJim Walker

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