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Find Local Restaurants, Nightlife, and Events on MSN City city guides A Heartwarming Work of Serious Fun In L.A., an unconventional nonprofit broadens immigrant kids' English-language skills By Cathy Curtis for MSN City Guides At afternoon tutoring sessions, homework gets first priority at 826LA East, one of a family of nonprofit neighborhood learning centers around the country. n the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, home to urban creatives and immigrant Latino families, a storefront displaying a life-sized robot greeting I a caveman could be mistaken for just another vintage clothing store. But inside The Echo Park Time Travel Mart -- which features such whimsical products as "fresh dinosaur eggs" and an Evil Robot Memory Eraser -- is an unconventional learning lab that brings the two cultures together. Officially known as 826LA, the nonprofit center attracts energetic, articulate volunteers in their 20s and 30s to work one-on-one with local children whose parents lack English-language skills. The goals are to help with homework, encourage reading, improve writing and publish student work -- all in a lively, playful atmosphere. On a Wednesday afternoon, 12 new volunteers drop in for a fast-paced orientation session led by coordinator Bonnie Chau. Everyone receives a stapled Tutor Handbook that reflects 826's practical approach (". .hard work, not magic and thunderbolts, makes good writing"). Alec Beard, a 30-year-old actor, says he's here because "volunteering helps me not be so self-absorbed." Sean Inman, 38, says he has more time on his hands now that he's unemployed, and enjoys working with kids. Tabitha Harkin, a 29-year-old graduate student in landscape architecture, has heard good things about 826LA from a friend who volunteers at 826 Valencia in San Francisco. Serious fun Chau explains that the 826 concept was the brainchild of Nínive Calegari and Dave Eggers. Calegari was a San Francisco public school teacher saddled with 146 students -- too many to help individually. Eggers, the best-selling author of "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" and founder of the independent McSweeneys publishing house, knew that writers tend to have a fair amount of free time. The idea was brilliantly simple: What if local writers' wit and wisdom could be channeled to give kids in city schools the undivided attention they need to succeed? (While 826 volunteers don't necessarily write professionally, they do tend to be serious readers.) Fueled by purposeful mission and seat-of-the-pants improvisation, 826 has met challenges with imaginative flair. When the founders discovered that 826 Valencia was zoned for commercial use only, they opened a shop. The wood beams reminded someone of a ship, so why not sell pirate supplies? There are now 826 chapters in seven cities (the others are Ann Arbor, Boston, Brooklyn, Chicago and Seattle), each with its own fanciful store -- "a cool way for people to get to know us," Chau says. Tutoring tactics At 2:30, students and volunteers trickle in for a tutoring session. A half-hour later, 16 children are noisily tackling English and math assignments. School homework is always first on the agenda, and each student fills out a homework log. Next come 30 minutes of reading, and a writing project (on this day, it's a fairy tale). Ross, a screenwriting student at the University of Southern California, works with Anthony, an impish second-grader whose tongue wags in his mouth as he concentrates on subtracting 22 from 26. Children read books selected from the well-stocked library at 826LA East. "Time me," he orders, pointing to a drawing of a clock on the worksheet. Ross good-naturedly makes tick-tock sounds, then explains that he'll have to use the real clock on the wall. When Anthony gets stuck, Ross suggests counting backward. That does the trick. With homework finished, Anthony does a little victory dance. __________________________________________________ Find Related Stories on MSN City Guides: Other 826 chapters around the country Photos of the 10 Coolest Libraries Beloved Indie Bookstores Across the U.S.: A Museum Building Spree 9 Great Ways to Give Back Love a Library? Share your view on the MSN Message Boards ___________________________________________________ At another table, Jacqueline, a third-grader with a toothy smile and a T-shirt sparkling with glitter, has just read Shel Silverstein's "The Giving Tree" aloud in a tiny voice without a single hesitation. But now she stares blankly at the version of "Cinderella" she began writing at an earlier session. Sighing deeply, she slides down in her chair. Stacy, a volunteer who is also helping a fifth-grader with long-division, suggests that Jackie could dictate a new story to her. "What's dictate?" Jackie asks. Soon she's back on track, spinning a tale about her family's two pet birds, who turn into Chihuahuas. "They're wearing bling," she says, laughing. "Jewelry," she adds, for Stacy's benefit. "How do you spell jewelry?" From skateboard videos to social studies Los Angeles is the only metropolitan area with two 826 sites (the other one is in Venice). Both offer a full calendar of other free programs, in addition to tutoring, and draw upon volunteer skills ranging from grant writing and graphic design to bartending (for fundraisers). Weekday mornings are reserved for class trips to 826LA for writing-related activities, such as Storytelling and Bookmaking. Volunteers also go out to public schools on an as-needed basis during the day. Events -- workshops and fundraisers -- are scheduled on weekends and evenings. The workshops, devised and presented by volunteers, can cover just about any topic, so long as it's fun, incorporates writing and creates tangible results. Subjects have ranged from Writing for Pets to Skateboard Video Production. In-school projects, on the other hand, are entirely based on classroom teachers' needs. "We are completely happy deferring to a teacher's wisdom," says Calegari, now the CEO of 826 National, "whether she's dreaming about [creating] a poetry book or just hammering down a social studies assignment." A win-win While the Echo Park location celebrated its first anniversary in January, the Venice branch has been The exterior of 826LA East often attracts curious open since 2005. Together, they offered 3,999 tutoring sessions and 24 field trips during the last shoppers. school year, and more than 1,000 in-school projects since fall 2008. On a national level, the organization's surveys turn up satisfying numbers: parents who say that the tutoring has had a positive effect on their children's schoolwork and conduct (94 percent); teachers who report that tutoring has improved student class work (96 percent). By publishing professionally edited and designed books of student writing every year -- the latest one, "Thanks and Have Fun Running the Country," offers advice for President Obama -- 826 raises the bar for local youth and helps publicize the organization's mission. To keep their tutors, copy editors and retail counter people coming back, 826 chapters organize a constant stream of volunteer events, including happy hours, board game nights, roundtable 'Every day, when I walk out of here, discussions and public readings of work in progress. I've done something I can feel good about.' While follow-through is emphasized, "we have absolutely no minimum requirement for volunteers," Calegari says. "They woke up that morning and they affirmed for themselves that they were going to come in and make a difference in some young person's life." Mike Thompson, a 24-year-old actor with a degree in theatre and English, started tutoring at 826LA last October. "I'd just quit my job, and daytime TV is awful," he deadpanned. Three months later, he's still hooked. "Every day, when I walk out of here, I've done something I can feel good about. I feel it's a win-win." For more information: www.826national.org. Cathy Curtis, a former staff writer at the Los Angeles Times, is the founder of Textual, a full-service writing and communications consulting firm established in 1999. MSN privacy Legal Advertise RSS © 2009 Microsoft.
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