Inspire Oakland Children and Youth to Write with Confidence and Joy

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Fall Semester Volunteer Opportunities with Chapter 510!
Chapter 510 is a made-in-Oakland youth writing & publishing center. Our teaching artists and volunteers work side-by-side with educators to provide a safe space and supportive community for young people ages 6-18 to bravely write. Our vision is that every young person in Oakland learns to write with confidence and joy. Through writing programs at our center and within Oakland public schools, we help young people improve their writing craft, confidence, and competency at every stage.

One-On-One Tutoring at Westlake Middle and MetWest High School
We provide in-school tutoring services for our partner sites Westlake Middle School & MetWest High School, specifically for writing support. These volunteers are asked to be available at least once a week for the entire semester to provide tutoring support. We also conduct a special book publishing project with the 10th graders which will be an oral history project that culminates in the publishing of a perfect bound book. The tutors will have the opportunity to serve as editorial mentors for the youth on this project. In addition tutors can support with college essay writing and our college essay write-in events which happen in the fall.

When: Once a week, M-F during school hours, 8:30-3pm starting in October

After-school Tutoring at Westlake Middle School
We will also be providing tutoring help after school at Westlake Middle starting this fall. We would ask tutors to commit to at least one day a week from 3:30-5pm. Tutors will be helping a group of 8th grade students improve writing to get high-school ready by the end of the year.

When: Once a week, M-F after school, 3:30-5pm

Editorial Mentorship Opportunities
Sign up to be an editorial mentor for one of our writing workshops this year. For each, you will get to work with one student throughout the workshop from beginning through publication ensuring that they have the one-on-one support needed to get their writing written and edited for print. This year, we will need editorial mentors for our Chapter Book Workshop for middle school students (10 mentors needed), Beauty in Difference Workshop for high school poets (10 Mulsim-identified mentors needed), our Identity Workshop for 9th graders at MetWest (10-20 mentors needed), and our Spring Break Children’s Book Camp (10 mentors needed).

When: throughout the year, starting in November. You will meet with students and work remotely through Google Docs.

College Essay Night
Come support MetWest High School seniors on their college essay writing. You will be paired with students to support them in writing, revision and content choices. Students and volunteers will be fueled by pizza and caffeinated drinks. Shifts are 5pm-7pm, 7pm-10pm, 10pm-midnight.

When: October 18, 2019

Epic Poetry Day at Acorn Elementary School:
340 students, 50 volunteers, 12 classrooms, and 1 school-wide epic poetry relay race. This event takes place on a Friday morning at Acorn Elementary School with the help of our new partner, the Oakland A’s. It is a fun, fast-paced,and wild literary challenge where each class at the school participates in an epic poetry writing challenge. There are many volunteer roles to be played in order to support the students in their writing and the overall flow of the event, including poetry facilitator, scribe, relay runner, and more.

When: November, 2019

First Friday Open House Event:
As a part of Oakland’s First Friday street festival, Chapter 510 hosts a monthly youth literary-arts event that showcases and features youth readers and performances (elementary - high school). Our First Friday Open Houses are youth and family friendly, and feature handmade bookmaking projects, open mics, curated poetry readings, writing workshops for teens, local children’s book authors, youth book release parties, and other lively programs.

When: Every First Friday, 6-9pm

Additional Spring Semester Volunteer Opportunities with Chapter 510

Field Trips:
Twice weekly, we host a 2.5 hour story writing and book publishing field trip experience for elementary school classrooms in the OUSD school system. These field trips are theatrical and collaborative, where the students create their own story together as a class, write their own endings, and get it live illustrated, published, and printed on the spot by our Bureau of Far Off Ideas. In this workshop the students learn about narrative, character development, and the art of developing stories together. These are volunteer-run field trips, and we offer various leadership and supportive roles to play including: lead facilitator, story typist, live illustrator, book publisher, one-on-one writing tutor and the infamous and very grumpy Prime Minister of the Bureau of Far Off Ideas.

When: Every Tuesday and Thursday, 10am-12:30pm, October - December (another cycle of field trips will begin in spring)