A meeting! A fun meeting for anyone interested in the educational / programming side of things.
Tomorrow
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
The Logan School, hosted by John Shoe
1005 Yosemite
Denver, CO 80230
6 pm
We are going to talk about lesson planning for workshops and events, then actually brainstorm some workshops and programming that could happen in the next few months. WE NEED EDUCATORS AND PEOPLE INTERESTED IN PROGRAMMING!
Come one, come all.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
826 Valencia
I made a pilgrimage to the 826 National Conference in San Francisco this past June. Here is some of the photo documentation.
You enter and are struck by all the random stuff inside the only pirate supply store in San Francisco. That big vat of stuff is lard ….
And this is the fish viewing area. They used to have a pufferfish but I think that he might have died. It’s still a nice little spot.
You buy things from this man. Not only is he the counter guy and salesman, but he is also the person who only allows kids and tutors back into the tutoring section. There is a pirates skull and crossbones flag behind him on a cord.
They sell these wicked funny signs. I love them.
Artful displays ....
Shelves where student publications as well as McSweeney's publications await readers.
Even the ceiling is cool. I hear that the pirate theme was inspired by the ceiling of the store.
And now we enter the tutoring center. See the cord and flag on the left?
My favorite part of the whole center is this wall. Each of those framed pieces of paper is the actual, edited page from a then-unpublished manuscript by famous authors – Dave Eggers, Michael Chabon, Amy Tan, etc. Intimidating, right? The editors have scribbled all over every page, made notes, questioned, suggested. It’s so encouraging to see these masters being picked apart. If they can do it, withstand this criticism and revision, then, Lord knows, we all can.
The tutoring center.
This little stand is the control seat where all the technical aspects of the main room are controlled for field trips and workshops. They have a sweet little set-up, fairly simple, where a volunteer types the story as kids suggest it and then the story is projected onto the wall.
See the projection?
A volunteer leads the brainstorming.
Once a group creates and types their story, the field trip gets exciting. The lead volunteer hollers up that ladder to the intimidating editor, Mr. Blue. Mr. Blue is incredibly harsh, telling the participants that what they’ve written is trash, it will never sell, they have to do better. He’s usually hilarious while doing it, but poignant for anyone who is a little too connected to his or her internal editor ….
Sometimes a very bold visitor ventures forth to meet Mr. Blue.
The reading nook. I love the sheets around it.
Tutor and tutee.
The back room, where the employees work and where the kids work on computers. I believe that a lot of publishing happens back here, as well.
If you ever go to San Francisco, this is well worth a visit -- especially on a weekday around 3 pm.
You enter and are struck by all the random stuff inside the only pirate supply store in San Francisco. That big vat of stuff is lard ….
And this is the fish viewing area. They used to have a pufferfish but I think that he might have died. It’s still a nice little spot.
You buy things from this man. Not only is he the counter guy and salesman, but he is also the person who only allows kids and tutors back into the tutoring section. There is a pirates skull and crossbones flag behind him on a cord.
They sell these wicked funny signs. I love them.
Artful displays ....
Shelves where student publications as well as McSweeney's publications await readers.
Even the ceiling is cool. I hear that the pirate theme was inspired by the ceiling of the store.
And now we enter the tutoring center. See the cord and flag on the left?
My favorite part of the whole center is this wall. Each of those framed pieces of paper is the actual, edited page from a then-unpublished manuscript by famous authors – Dave Eggers, Michael Chabon, Amy Tan, etc. Intimidating, right? The editors have scribbled all over every page, made notes, questioned, suggested. It’s so encouraging to see these masters being picked apart. If they can do it, withstand this criticism and revision, then, Lord knows, we all can.
The tutoring center.
This little stand is the control seat where all the technical aspects of the main room are controlled for field trips and workshops. They have a sweet little set-up, fairly simple, where a volunteer types the story as kids suggest it and then the story is projected onto the wall.
See the projection?
A volunteer leads the brainstorming.
Once a group creates and types their story, the field trip gets exciting. The lead volunteer hollers up that ladder to the intimidating editor, Mr. Blue. Mr. Blue is incredibly harsh, telling the participants that what they’ve written is trash, it will never sell, they have to do better. He’s usually hilarious while doing it, but poignant for anyone who is a little too connected to his or her internal editor ….
Sometimes a very bold visitor ventures forth to meet Mr. Blue.
The reading nook. I love the sheets around it.
Tutor and tutee.
The back room, where the employees work and where the kids work on computers. I believe that a lot of publishing happens back here, as well.
If you ever go to San Francisco, this is well worth a visit -- especially on a weekday around 3 pm.
Productivity in the name of Doctor Nostrum
Well, another meeting and we accomplished a ton of stuff. I am so amazed at what we can do in such a short amount of time, even as the janitors of Horace Mann glare at us and urge us to leave their shining hallways.
We made some real decisions today. We could have easily stayed sitting at the catch-22 of most start-ups: we have no money for a space, and we won’t make any money until we have a space. What an ugly impasse! However, we decided not to worry just about location, but to move forward with programming at the same time. We’ll work on some killer workshops and a killer presentation while praying that some angel donor gives us $10,000 to fund us for our first year or so. At the same time, we’ll probably hit up some similar local non-profits to see if they might be willing to offer us some free space as we work out these programs and some funding.
The most memorable idea that took flight this meeting, however, was Doctor Nostrum. J had mentioned this before, but he fleshed it out a little more. While waiting for space, we could easily create a kit that could travel around, providing mobile workshops and accomplishing our mission without twiddling our thumbs and waiting for that angel donor. This kit could be a trunk full of supplies, or an outfit that someone wears, or an ice cream truck that unrolls to produce magical chapbooks of student writing. The kit would be a writing workshop, staffed by three volunteers. One volunteer would help out the kids and document the whole production; one volunteer would be the educator, actually running the workshop and providing some legitimacy to the whole operation, and the third volunteer would be Doctor Nostrum.
Doctor Nostrum would appear in full 19th century regalia, boots and all, the traveling medicine man of old seeping down upon the sleepy hamlets of the rural west. He would advertise his miraculous potion to cure writers’ block once and for all. He would sell, straight from his ample cape, bottle after bottle of snake oil, guaranteed to heighten creativity by 750%. He would tell story after story of his near run-ins with Death – as narrator, as reaper, as compatriot. He would let lose The Machine, a trunk containing the most marvelous of puppets, the requisite Hamlet manuscript, and a music box tinkling literary themes.
That said, if Doctor Nostrum intrigues you or if the idea of actual planning some writing workshops intrigues you, come to our next Programming Club meeting. See the minutes for details.
We made some real decisions today. We could have easily stayed sitting at the catch-22 of most start-ups: we have no money for a space, and we won’t make any money until we have a space. What an ugly impasse! However, we decided not to worry just about location, but to move forward with programming at the same time. We’ll work on some killer workshops and a killer presentation while praying that some angel donor gives us $10,000 to fund us for our first year or so. At the same time, we’ll probably hit up some similar local non-profits to see if they might be willing to offer us some free space as we work out these programs and some funding.
The most memorable idea that took flight this meeting, however, was Doctor Nostrum. J had mentioned this before, but he fleshed it out a little more. While waiting for space, we could easily create a kit that could travel around, providing mobile workshops and accomplishing our mission without twiddling our thumbs and waiting for that angel donor. This kit could be a trunk full of supplies, or an outfit that someone wears, or an ice cream truck that unrolls to produce magical chapbooks of student writing. The kit would be a writing workshop, staffed by three volunteers. One volunteer would help out the kids and document the whole production; one volunteer would be the educator, actually running the workshop and providing some legitimacy to the whole operation, and the third volunteer would be Doctor Nostrum.
Doctor Nostrum would appear in full 19th century regalia, boots and all, the traveling medicine man of old seeping down upon the sleepy hamlets of the rural west. He would advertise his miraculous potion to cure writers’ block once and for all. He would sell, straight from his ample cape, bottle after bottle of snake oil, guaranteed to heighten creativity by 750%. He would tell story after story of his near run-ins with Death – as narrator, as reaper, as compatriot. He would let lose The Machine, a trunk containing the most marvelous of puppets, the requisite Hamlet manuscript, and a music box tinkling literary themes.
That said, if Doctor Nostrum intrigues you or if the idea of actual planning some writing workshops intrigues you, come to our next Programming Club meeting. See the minutes for details.
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Promoting the Letters
We are starting this thing, this crazy idea, and it's a bit like we are working our way through a dense forest, searching and searching for a worn path to follow. In the meantime, we are making it up.
Metro Denver Promotion of Letters is a non-profit dedicated to helping kids, ages 5 to 18, learn how to communicate -- effectively, joyfully, creatively, passionately, and often. We envision most of this communication to be through writing, but --hey!-- we aren't too picky. Everyone involved does know and appreciate the value of an honest and clear sentence, one that expresses just the right thing at the right moment. How wonderful if we could help kids gain the confidence to do just that, daily, naturally, with skill and without fear.
We're modeling ourself after the 826National Writing Tutoring Centers, They've inspired all of us in one way or another. In the meantime, though, we're going it alone, trying to determine what is right for Denver, what is right for us, and what is right for the kids we wish to serve. Watch us as we grow.
We appreciate comments, questions, thoughts, and random musings etched into marble tablets.
Metro Denver Promotion of Letters is a non-profit dedicated to helping kids, ages 5 to 18, learn how to communicate -- effectively, joyfully, creatively, passionately, and often. We envision most of this communication to be through writing, but --hey!-- we aren't too picky. Everyone involved does know and appreciate the value of an honest and clear sentence, one that expresses just the right thing at the right moment. How wonderful if we could help kids gain the confidence to do just that, daily, naturally, with skill and without fear.
We're modeling ourself after the 826National Writing Tutoring Centers, They've inspired all of us in one way or another. In the meantime, though, we're going it alone, trying to determine what is right for Denver, what is right for us, and what is right for the kids we wish to serve. Watch us as we grow.
We appreciate comments, questions, thoughts, and random musings etched into marble tablets.
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