THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2012
SERVICE
PAGE 17
Mighty Writers advocates strength in literacy skills The nonprofit after-school program in South Philadelphia promotes literacy and writing skills to local middle and high school students. ERIN EDINGER-TUROFF
The Temple News Every time senior communications major Jaimee Swift steps into the Mighty Writers building, tucked into a corner on Christian Street, she said she is “inspired by the youth and their tenacity and zeal for writing and life.” Upon entering the building the first things seen are fully stocked bookshelves. Children sit attentively listening to a story being read aloud, intently
focused and quiet. The love of reading and writing is evident in such a scholarly environment. Mighty Writers, a nonprofit offering after-school tutoring and educational opportunities for elementary- to high-schoolaged students, gets Philadelphia’s youth college and career ready by strengthening writing skills. The program is known on Main Campus because of supporters and volunteers who are among Temple’s students and staff. George Miller, a journalism professor at the university, is on the board of directors. Lo-
cal volunteers, some of whom are Temple students, work with students at the Mighty Writers center at 1501 Christian St. “Volunteering at Mighty Writers has definitely changed my life,” said Swift, the president of Temple’s chapter of Her Campus, a national online magazine for female college students. She heard of the organization through a former Her Campus Temple member, and has since gotten involved with volunteering at Mighty Writers. Youth coordinator and alumnus James Owk and another youth instructor, Rachel Loeper, lead after school instructive sessions that include time to do homework, followed by time in which they lead classes of their own curriculum. In addition, Owk heads the Team Scholar Program, which is designed to immerse high school students in preparation for college. The Mighty Writers program provides tours of colleges, instruction of how to navigate FAFSA and interactive learning using hip-hop artists’ success stories. The class recently read Jay-Z’s “Decoded” to explore a modern interpretation of the American dream. Mighty Writers provides free services for attending students. In order to attend, students must go through an application process that involves submission of an essay and examples of their previous work, and are expected to be very committed to their assignments in both school and in Mighty Writers’ programs. (Above) Youth Coordinator James Owk helps Alain Nguyen do his homework at the Mighty “Most of my students [will Writers center on Oct. 25 (Below) The Mighty Writers building is located on the 1500 block of potentially be] first generation Christian Street. | URSZULA PRUCHNIEWSKA TTN [college students],” Owk said. self,” Owk said. “The commuOwk, a first generation rate kids’ interests...so we can emonies. “College students should nity is a wealth of connections college graduate himself, said first get them engaged and then he stumbled upon the job of get them writing,” Leyman said. get involved because they want and positive action, all it takes The organization’s founder, to, not for credit,” Owk said. is to get involved.” teaching at Mighty Writers coincidentally. Along with jobs at Tim Whitaker, ended his own “That’s what a community like Erin Edinger-Turoff Mighty Writers such as his, vol- 30-year journalism career to this deserves.” can be reached at Volunteers go through an unteer efforts are a major contri- start Mighty Writers in 2009, erin.edinger-turoff@temple.edu. and this hands-on form of in- interview process, and should bution to the program. Development Director struction has been catering to be committed just like the stuMaggie Leyman said mentor- Philadelphia’s youth ever since. dents, workers said. The genOwk described Whitaker as eral opinion of Mighty Writers’ student interaction and workshops are designed to be fun “an OG.” A student in his class volunteers seems to indicate, experiences that draw students giggled at the description, lean- though, that this effort does not in and encourage them to write ing over his current assignment, go unrewarded. a research project on the history “You can either take my with clarity. “Our workshops incorpo- of Halloween and harvest cer- word for it, or come see it your-
10-10-10 benefits multiple charities TEN PAGE 7 more information. On Oct. 4, the team went throughout campus and picked up trash and disposed of it in an environmentally-friendly way. “We had 23 students show up, and four local residents saw what we were doing and came
out to help, too,” Levine said. Their next cleanup day is scheduled for Nov. 4 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. They meet at the outdoor track located at 15th and Montgomery streets. Volunteers will be supplied with gloves and trash bags. Also,
students can post on UnLitter Temple’s Facebook page or tweet any streets they would like to see cleaned for UnLitter Temple’s consideration. Stube said she hopes younger students “help and continue [UnLitter Temple] in the future.” Senior entrepreneurship major Dan Falco chose a unique charity as part of his project. “My group is working for the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International,” Falco said. “We knew that by choosing to work with DFGFI we would be able to tug at the heart strings of others in a way that would not make them feel uncomfortable or depressed, but rather excited and inspired to help the declining gorilla population. I mean, how can you not have fun promoting gorillas? Slap on a gorilla suit and everybody’s having fun.” DFGFI also plans to receive support from Lehigh Valley grocery stores and upcoming Eagles’ tailgates for donations. “So far, ‘10-10-10’ has been a great experience,” Falco said. “I’m having a lot of fun with it and I’m realizing how relentless you have to be in order to get what you want from people. My group is awesome, my charity is stellar and on top of it all we’re supporting a great cause.”
Despite vastly different interests and charities, all the students involved share an equal amount of gratitude toward [Wilcox] for her dedication to the “10-10-10” project. By holding weekly group sessions and continuing to monitor the progress of each group, Wilcox has set a new standard for community service at Temple and ensured that the “10-10-10” project will continue to thrive. “This is the first project throughout my educational career where I am empowered and motivated,” Readinger said. “[Wilcox] has made me feel that the ‘10-10-10’ project could be my legacy and my lasting impact on the Temple community.” Jessica Smith and Melissa Pascale can be reached at living@temple-news.com.