826michgan Programs will be completely virtual for the 2020-21 school year. We have launched Virtual Schoolwork Support (formerly called After-school Tutoring) and Writing with Wee-bots, with Write Now Writing Kits and partnership writing opportunities available for distance writing and learning. More programs are still to come, and all of the information you need is here online. Please read on to learn more about our decision-making and how to engage with these programs this fall.
If I could change anything I would make the pandemic stop. When the pandemic started I had to stop going to school, the park, everywhere like violin, karate, and visiting family members. These things make me feel sad. But what makes me feel happy is playing video games, swimming, playing basketball and soccer with my dad. I can’t wait until the pandemic stops.
- Wee-bots Writer Mason, age 7
In March, we unknowingly hosted our last field trip and our final in-person session of after-school tutoring for the academic year. Once we realized that we would not be able to safely meet together in our writing labs this year, we felt very sad too.
All spring and summer we have worked to find ways to connect through writing and across distance. In the moments of connection — students and volunteers collaborating on a story in Zoom breakout rooms, students reading their drafts aloud to virtual audiences across the country — we, like Mason, have felt a bit happier and certainly less alone.
This fall, we are offering a full series of virtual programs to make it possible for continued connection through writing across such a difficult and disorienting time. We hope that you and your family will join us for the chance to talk, laugh, write, and share in our Online Learning Lab, where we’ll host Virtual Schoolwork Support on Monday and Tuesday afternoons, Wee-bots Writing on Wednesday evenings, and soon, Virtual Field Trips on weekday mornings!
You can register today online for a weekly Virtual Schoolwork Support session; we’ll connect students for individualized sessions with caring volunteers to connect about homework and writing. We are so proud to continue to partner with the Ypsilanti District Library on this program: our combined staff members provide the expertise and capacity to keep our online spaces safe and accessible to as many families as possible. All the information you need to sign-up is conveniently located HERE on our new Online Learning Lab Hub.
Virtual Writing for Wee-bots also continues this fall with a new line-up of stories and featured authors every Wednesday from 6-7pm. Each week our elementary-aged writers listen to a story and then try out something new that the writer has featured in the book. We work in small groups as we each draft a piece of original creative writing to share. You can read more about our writing workshops, writing kits (sent to you by mail for family writing at home!) and other writing projects taking place this fall on our Program Resources page!
More to come soon about additional programs and resources, including the National Day on Writing and the 826michigan OMNIBUS release! What makes us feel happy is writing with you!