And Now, Today’s GOOD NEWS: A Philadelphia Writing Dojo
· Philly Spells Writing Center has approached Philadelphia with a mission. That mission is to instill our city’s youth a lifelong love of literacy. Inspired by the Dave Eggers’s 826 model of teaching, Spells hopes “to get 6 to 18 year olds excited about creative and expository forms of writing.”
The idea is as simple as it is age old: Get em’ hooked while they’re young. The Eggers Model — and trust us, we are as mystified as you are that there such a thing as “The Eggers Model” — recognizes the impact of writing skills and literacy on childrens’ future success and in turn focuses on one-on-one learning as a means to get them involved with their education. While not directly affiliated with the 825 Valencia, Philly Spells follows the same principle; their learning space will open in 2010, and hopes to leave the students with the “life-changing potential that comes with embracing and exploring new forms of self-expression.” The writing center plans to open a storefront called “Wiz-Mart” which will sell “madcap merch that sparks the creative magic in us all.” Way to fight the good fight, Spells. What better way to mine the literary vien of our city’s youth than to provide them with a free place to germinate their creative talent. Philly Spells is not affiliated in any way with the 1973 R.I.F. commercial at right, but they probably dig it as much as you do.
· On Wednesday morn at The Franklin Institute, Mayor Nutter will remind everyone why the hell we voted for him when he introduces something called Greenworks Philadelphia, “an ambitious, comprehensive framework to make Philadelphia the greenest city in the United States of America by 2015. It sets goals in five areas — energy, environment, equity, economy and engagement — and encompasses more than 100 initiatives.” 2015, here we come! After The Dude lays out some of the details, he will ride back to City Hall on a diesel-electric hybrid SEPTA bus, presumably driven by one of those new diesel-electric hybrid SEPTA bus drivers. GOOD NEWS: GET INTO IT, PHILADELPHIA!
So there you have it: The world is not totally made of shit. Have you got some good news? If so, send it to tips[at]philebrity[dot]com with “GOOD MOTHERFUCKING NEWS!” in the subject header — we’d love to hear about it.
April 27th, 2009 at 4:56 pm
I heard a rumor than there will be an 826 Philly in the relatively near future. Not that this city can’t handle two creative writing programs, but as a fundraiser (le sigh) I can guarantee that foundations will be asking why there are two such similar things.
April 27th, 2009 at 5:51 pm
The 826 National organization isn’t accepting applications for new chapters at this time, so there won’t be an official 826 Philly program anytime soon. But Spells Writing Center is definitely inspired by the 826 Valencia model and other successful writing centers around the country, with a dash of Philly flair.