september community outreach
Here’s what we’ve been up to this past month!
Dream Academy at Asbury Park High SchoolThis month, we launched a new weekly program with 9th graders in the Dream Academy at Asbury Park High School. Focusing on reflective writing and art, we’ve spent our weeks creating heart maps of what matters most to us, writing memories of people we love, and unearthing poetry in the pages of young adult novels through Blackout Poetry. We have loved getting to know these bright, talented students and look forward to writing with them in the upcoming weeks!
Life Stories at Spring Lake Library
We are excited to announce Life Stories as a new outreach program. Our Life Stories class gives adults the opportunity to explore and reflect on different themes that have been influential in shaping their lives. This month, we hosted a free one-day workshop at Spring Lake Library to kick off a four-week class that begins Wednesday, March 12 (6 to 7:30 p.m.) and runs through April 2. Nineteen students came out to discuss the nuances of memoir writing and begin the exciting journey of leaving their legacy in words. To register, visit Spring Lake Library’s website.
Red Bank Middle School
At the start of the month, we invited the 5th and 6th grade ESL students into the 8th grade AVID class for our weekly writing workshop. We read a few pieces from “I Wrote This For You,” by Iain S. Thomas, and then we moved into our own ekphrastic writing–writing in response to art–using different art pieces pulled from our PWN archives (art from Bridge Ink, the internet, MoMA, postcards from traveling, etc.) to inspire us. We loved how the 8th grade AVID class mentored the 5th and 6th graders, guiding them to first write lists of what they saw in the images before helping them develop their pieces into stories and poetry. The 7th graders also completed ekphrastic writing projects and we were blown away by how much creative energy flowed from their pens! We are beginning to wind down our generative writing as we get ready to select pieces to revise for our end-of-year anthologies and Writers Celebration!
Professional Development for Red Bank Staff
On February 3, we hosted a writing workshop for Red Bank teachers as part of their professional wellness day. We started off reading the poem “New Year,” written by the 7th and 8th grade AVID students that was published in our online young adult literary magazine, Bridge Ink, and then we moved into some generative writing using our “Wheel of Writing” for inspiration. Prompts included such phrases as “hold onto,” “let go of,” “my wish for you,” and “my wish for the world.” There were lots of discoveries and one teacher even remarked: “I can’t believe what came out. I never would have thought about that without those prompts.” We had such a great time working with these incredible teachers and look forward to more PD writing workshops in the future.
Teacher Ambassador Winter Workshop
Last Sunday, a group of our Teacher Ambassadors came together to write and share teaching ideas. We spent the morning discussing how to write personal essays involving an objective correlative–the object or event that takes on the burden of the emotion–and then explored objects in our own lives that we could craft pieces around. We also drafted our own Tiny Teaching Stories (fewer than 100 words) to submit to Education Week. After lunch, we shared books and resources that have inspired meaningful writing in our students. One teacher wrote us afterward: “Thanks for the great workshop on Sunday. You’ve created a wonderful space to write and share ideas.” We are looking forward to our 4th Annual Writing on the River: A Spring Retreat for Teachers, which will be held Sunday, March 29, at the Oyster Point Hotel from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Spots are limited so register today!21st Century Community Learning Center (Long Branch)
We are nearing the end of our second session of “The Picture Book Project” with the 3rd graders in the Long Branch 21st Century after-school program. The students have been exploring story ideas, enjoying mentor texts, and creating their own picture books. We can’t wait for them to share their stories!
Tween Writing GroupOur tween writers have come a long way since their first day of class! By week four, one tween writer decided to use the entire class time to start and finish his own original scary story. It was so rich with detailed suspense, the whole class hushed on the edges of their seats, waiting to hear what happened next. For our last class, we read “Last Day on Earth,” by Lawrence Raab, and then we used the “Wheel of Writing” to inspire our own creative works. We ended our session with a fun Write Around and then added some art to our inspiration wall for future classes to see. Interested in joining our Tween Writing Group? Sign up for our Spring Session I here.
Teen Writing Group
During Teen Writing Group this month, one of our teen writers played an original song on her ukulele for the group, and we were in awe of her incredible talent and courage! We also overheard teen leader Sophia talking to another student in the group and she said something so insightful that we had to share it with the world: “We grow through what we go through.” We are always so inspired by our teens! Want to join the group? Sign up for Spring Session I here.
Shore House (Long Branch)
With Shore House members this month, we read “What Love Looks Like,” by Rupi Kaur, and wrote about what love looks like to us. One writer wrote about her Polly Pocket collection, which inspired our lesson plan for the next session. We read “Child in Big Toy,” by Mario Chard, and wrote about our inner children–writing letters to the child in us or writing from that childlike voice, seeking adventure around every corner.
We need to give a special shout out to Shore House member Jimi H. Each visit, he arrives with another chapter to a horror story he started a few months ago. His enthusiasm for writing is so amazing to watch. Starting with a small prompt in class, Jimi has decided to continue building this world on his own, creating incredible plot twists and cliffhangers that always leave us wanting more. As we share the works we write in class together, Jimi also shares a new chapter he wrote while we were away. We are all in awe of his imagination and dedication to his project!
Lunch Break We had a great day with the Womyn’s Worth mentoring group at Lunch Break on Saturday, February 22. We read “Are You Alright?,” by Lisa Marie Basile, and then broke into a lively discussion about how much we each resonated with her words. We then did a writing prompt about who we used to be and who we are now. It was an incredible morning filled with both tears and laughter. We are already looking forward to our next session with these inspiring women!
Senior Space
In our Senior Space class this month, students read Margaret Renkl’s Op-Ed piece, “One Tiny Beautiful Thing.” Renkl reminds us to focus on something beautiful during these divided times. Her intricate and whimsical play on fauna and flora brings home the message that beauty is all around us if we just slow down and take a look. Students wrote to Renkl’s apt question: “How do you cope when you just can’t read one more headline?”
If you’d like more information on our community outreach programs, please email Jennifer Chauhan at jennifer@projectwritenow.org.
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