Forty students, their families and friends, and one ostrich egg

On Friday, March 7, students enrolled in our After-school Writing Program at Buena Vista Horace Mann School joined their parents, friends, teachers and tutors at 826 Valencia to celebrate the release of One Ostrich Egg & Your Voice, a collection of their stories. The room was jam-packed as the third- and fourth-graders braved the stage and read excerpts from their heartfelt pieces. This publication is the end product of a semester-long collaboration between 826 Valencia and Buena Vista Horace Mann K-8 school, where 826 Valencia’s tutors work with forty third- and fourth-grade students on their creative writing skills after school each day.

The students, though nervous, did a great job presenting their writing. Credit is largely due to the coaching efforts of Program Coordinator Angie Rivera and her stalwart team of volunteers and interns. Reflecting on the reading one student reported, “I was nervous because there were a lot of people there. I wrote about my dream job to be a ballerina. My mom was very proud; she almost hugged me to death.” (—4th grader Karen Melgar)

Many thanks to all of the parents for bringing food to share, to the tutors who work in the program every day after-school, and to the students who wrote thoughtful stories and shared them with us.