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Please click here for info about Donors and Our Board Spoken Interludes is the primary program of Wordsville Inc, a non-profit 501(c)3 arts organization. Wordsville's commitment is to develop, nurture, and present writing in our community through the Spoken Interludes reading series and through Spoken Interludes Next, an outreach writing program for at-risk teenagers.
Spoken Interludes Next is an eight to ten week writing course where middle and high school students work in small groups with professional writers to learn how to write their own short story. The program culminates in a graduation reading for the students that family, friends, and the public attend for free. According to an article in the Los Angeles Times, one out of three students in the LA Unified School System drops out of high school. Not only are the students who participate in Spoken Interludes Next scoring an average twenty percent higher than their fellow students on the English Language Arts section of the state required California High School Exit Exam, but their teachers tell us of a renewed commitment and excitement these kids feel for the learning experience. Spoken Interludes Next ensures that the next generation receives the literacy skills they need and deserve, while providing them with mentoring in communication skills, resourcefulness, and self-esteem.
“Spoken Interludes Next nurtures the stories of youth who otherwise feel forgotten, and contributes to these students’ sense of hope and relevance.” Odus Caldwell, Principal of William Tell Aggeler School for Boys Spoken Interludes Next is currently serving students in the Los Angeles area at the Downtown Business High School, the William Tell Aggelar School, a facility for boys in the juvenile detention system, the William Tell Aggelar Opportunity School, a school for students who are labeled at-high-risk, Morningside High School in Inglewood, and at Hathaway-Sycamores, a foster home in Altadena. And starting this spring, thanks to Poets & Writers, Inc. through a grant from the James Irvine Foundation, we are taking our program to gay, lesbian, transgender, and bi-sexual youth to help them through the written word.
On the east coast, we have bi-annual writing workshops at the Middlesex County Vo-Tech High School in New Jersey, and we have started Spoken Interludes Next at Abbott School, Abbott House, a foster home in Irvington, New York, and at Mt Pleasant Blythedale UFSD at Blythedale Children's Hospital, the only New York State public school located within a hospital. Read a New York Times article about the hospital written by Marek Fuchs, who is also teaching in the program.
Thanks to the incredible support of Entergy, Spoken Interludes Next is also reaching students at Hawthorne Cedar Knolls in Westchester, New York. “For writers to work with these students, hear their ideas, and help them tap into their imagination to write a story is an incredible experience for these kids. At the end of this program, the students have a much greater sense of the elements of a story because they have been writers themselves. We see a huge difference.” Sam Dovlatian, Coordinator of Student Services, Downtown Business High School
Spoken Interludes Next would not be possible without the incredible support, commitment, and time of our West Coast Educational Program Director Michael Kearns. And special thanks to the many gifted writers who teach our classes. “The students that attend our schools are probably the neediest
Spoken Interludes Next also holds an Ongoing Book Drive to benefit the Riverside Pediatrics Clinic in Yonkers, New York which provides free books for underprivileged youth. If you would like to contribute books, please contact us. If you are interested in teaching in our outreach programs in LA or in NY, or would like more information, please contact us. If you are interested in being part of the community of donors that keeps our programs going, please click here. |
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