Posts

Congrats to our August volunteer of the month, Joey Oakley! Joey was a Tuesday volunteer at Akili Aftercare last year, and continually shared his own passion for writing with students. Read our interview with Joey:

What first brought you to Big Class?
My friend Kurston mentioned Big Class to me, just when I was looking for a way to participate more in my community. The mission of Big Class made so much sense that it was automatic!
What keeps you coming back?
The kids themselves. Literally. They clamor for your help. You become pals. To see them so excited about something so academic, such a passport–how could you not?
What are some skills you have that help you out at Big Class?
Not so much anything literary, as much as embracing your role as simply a nudger of the kids as their own conduit. Example: Kid has nothing today. ‘What were you just thinking about?’ –Oh, just The Mermaid Vampire Who Electrocutes Sharks on a Planet that is half cotton candy half unicorns…
What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced at Big Class?
Rather than biggest challenge I’ll say biggest thing you can enable (re: above)–just help them get their own stuff out. Sound it out. Spell it out. Tap the paper and go, My god! That sounds important (that, for example, the dragon has fiery purple metallic scales)! We better know that, right? That’s honestly all you need to do. The kids are an endless font of creativity. You just prod them.
What are some great projects you’ve helped with? Tell us the story behind one of them if you can.
There was a collaboration two students were working on that resembled a cross between Pokemon and Harry Potter. It was incredible. It flowed, it had suspense, style… I couldn’t believe how old these students were (fifth grade). And, well–as above, I didn’t facilitate anything other than asking them to clarify details, what came next, etc–they already knew it all.
What are you up to when you’re not volunteering with us?
I’m currently finishing editing a novel.

Congrats to our June Volunteer of the Month, Olivia! Read our interview with Olivia here:

What first brought you to Big Class?
I’m part of a group called Wildseeds: The New Orleans Octavia Butler Emergent Strategy Collective (phew!), a Black feminist collective which, among many other things, hosts book clubs and writing workshops inspired by the work of visionary speculative fiction writers of color like the late, great Octavia Butler. My friend Mwende joined the staff of Big Class and put out a call to the Wildseeds looking for volunteers. 
I’m a writer by passion as well as trade, and I love nothing more than hanging out with young people (the most visionary creators of all!). I worked in schools, outdoor schools, after-school and summer programs all through my teens and 20s, though it had been several years since I’d done anything in that arena besides play with my nieces’ and friends’ many children. I also freelance, so not only do I have a fairly flexible work schedule, I also spend virtually all my work time alone with my laptop. A mid-afternoon volunteer gig once a week, in a space filled with life, creativity, fun surprises, and the wild, wise voices of young folks was a perfect fit. 
What keeps you coming back?
No two days, or groups of kids, at Open Studio are ever alike! The more open format of the program, and the shifting combinations of kids who make their way there day to day, really do allow for a measure of playfulness, freedom, and “emergent strategy” based on the needs of individual kids and the group at any given hour. Ms. Raven and Ms. Mwende do such a phenomenal job of creating a safe, fun “container” for whatever energies and intentions the young folks might be bringing into the space that day, and channeling those into creative practice. Every week I look forward to seeing which kids will be present, how they’ll interact with one another, and what will come out of their brilliant, whizzing brains next!
What are some skills you have that help you out at Big Class?
Listening is a huge one. It’s probably the skill that serves me best in life. It also helps that I love doing it, especially with young folks: asking them questions, hearing what they come up with, detecting when their imaginations are taking them someplace different than I’ve been compelled to guide them, and letting that happen. Just listening, and being present and flexible to what young folks might need from me, is a really important tool.
What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced at Big Class?
I travel a bit for work, and I’ve hated to have to miss a week of Open Studio here and there. Also, I don’t know if I’d still be Volunteer of the Month if the deciding factor was kids’ actual output of finished written work when they’re with me! When I’m with kids, we tend to get caught up in “imagination loops” and not all of what we talk about ends up on the page on that particular day, though I do believe those musing sessions are a key part of the creative process! That’s what I tell myself, and them, at least. 
What are some great projects  you’ve helped with? Tell us the story behind them if you can.
Honestly, every project is great. From trading haikus with one kid to revising an epic fantasy tome with another, to an eye-opening weekend video project with some of the older girls that took me back to being on the brink of teenage — it has been such a privilege to work with the kids on everything we’ve gotten the chance to work on together. Also, I live to watch them read their published work, and support one another as emcees and audience members. They radiate with pride — and as someone who’s had the honor of having her words in print fairly frequently, that never goes away!
What are you up to when you’re not volunteering with us?
You can find me at home or in a café with aforementioned laptop, editing and writing stuff about HIV and other health and justice issues; with a pencil and notebook, jotting down ideas and aimless prose; biking around town, skirting potholes; trying to get comfortable driving a car (just got my license five months ago, for the first time in my life!); gazing at the bayou, waiting for a fish to jump (they really do that!); or dreaming up interesting ways to cook greens.

Congrats to Kesha, our May Volunteer of the Month! Read our interview with Kesha here:

What first brought you to Big Class? 
I first heard about Big Class from a community board notice looking for volunteers to write with children. As I was already tutoring in the neighborhood, I was initially interested in the Open Studio. Once I heard about the scope of Big Class, it was a creative endeavor to teach my own workshops,  as well as to become involved in the Volunteer Leadership Krewe.
What keeps you coming back?
Big Class allows children to explore their own voices and to value them. By writing about their identities, experiences, cultures and imagination, their individuality emerges. They can then bring those authentic voices back into their classrooms and communities. 
What are some skills you have that help you out at Big Class?
Facilitating writing workshops with the New York Writers Coalition for 9 years was a learning experience.  Writing with all different ages and groups of people, valuing their voices, and publishing their work was a privilege, and a lot of that experience serves me well in my Big Classes.
What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced at Big Class?
As even the simplest writing prompts can elicit powerful writing around social justice, politics or culture, I have found that I can always be surprised by the depth of ideas. Being prepared to positively engage, encourage, and consistently ask children to write more is a key strategy.
What are some great projects  you’ve helped with? Tell us the story behind them if you can.
I love being able to use photography and art along with writing to create exciting projects. In our Water Writers class at Sylvanie Williams College Prep,  5th and 6th graders examined water from the Mississippi River and wrote about their experiences with it, positively and negatively. They also imagined New Orleans in the future and painted those visions with watercolors and water from the Mississippi. 
What are you up to when you’re not volunteering with us?
When I am not in the Writers Room, I am hosting international writers, artists, musicians and researchers and exposing them to cultural experiences here in the city. I also enjoy sharing successful poems and books from Big Class writers with them so the word can spread around the world!