826 Valencia Explained

826 Valencia is a non-profit organization in the Mission District of San Francisco, California, United States, dedicated to helping children and young adults develop writing skills and to helping teachers inspire their students to write. It was the basis for the 826 National organization, which has centers on the United States with the same goal.

Overview

Named for its street address, 826 Valencia was founded in 2002 by author Dave Eggers and veteran teacher Nínive Calegari, who both have ties to the literary and educational community. 826 consists of three centers, each encompassing a writing lab, a street-front student-friendly store that partially funds the programs, and two satellite classrooms in nearby middle schools. The organization is named after the street address of the first center.[1]

Over 1,400 volunteers—including published authors, magazine founders, SAT-course instructors, and documentary filmmakers—have donated their time to work with thousands of students. These volunteers allow 826 Valencia to offer all of its services for free.[2]

826 Valencia opened a second location in the Tenderloin in 2016[3] and another in the Mission Bay neighborhood in 2019.[4]

Programming

826 Valencia's programming includes-in-schools programs, workshops, field trips, after school tutoring and student publishing.

Pirate supply store

826 Valencia runs San Francisco's "only independent pirate supply store". The store is the front entrance of the tutoring center and has the look and feel of an authentic pirate shop.[5] It sells pirate clothing, eyepatches, compasses, spyglasses, pirate dice, skull flags, and secret treasures. It features handmade signs, scattered around the store, offering tongue-in-cheek wisdom, such as "Uses for Lard" (#5: "Lard Fights") and "Guidelines for New Shipmates" (#4: "No forgetting to swab"). Unsuspecting visitors are sometimes treated to surprise "moppings."

Shoppers can also find back issues of McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, books published by McSweeney's, and literary compilations written by 826 Valencia students. The books of student writing published by 826 Valencia include forewords, illustrations and interviews from public figures such as Former San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom and actor Robin Williams.

The Pirate Supply Store was originally created through necessity. After being turned down for regular use of church basements and school facilities, the founders discovered an empty store on Valencia Street. City ordinances required businesses in that area of the city to be either retail or catering, so the Pirate Supply Store was opened in 2002 as the "legitimate" business front for the writing center. It also helps fund the tutoring program.[6]

Mural

Dave Eggers commissioned cartoonist Chris Ware to design the mural for the facade of 826 Valencia's building.[7] The mural depicts "the parallel development of humans and their efforts at and motivations for communication, spoken and written."[8] The 3.9m x 6m mural was applied by artisans to Ware's specifications.[7] Describing the work, Ware said "I didn’t want it to make anyone 'feel good', especially in that typically muralistic 'hands across the water' sort of way,"..."I especially wanted it to be something that people living in the neighbourhood could look at day after day and hopefully not tire of too quickly. I really hoped whomever might happen to come across it would find something that showed a respect for their intelligence, and didn’t force-feed them any 'message'."[7]

Influence

See main article: 826 National.

826 Valencia has inspired a number of other projects across the US, known as 'chapters'. In late 2004, just before the founding of four new chapters, 826 National was launched as an umbrella organization that provides logistical support to its chapters.[9]

There are now nine chapters that make up 826 National: 826 Valencia, 826NYC in Brooklyn, 826LA in Los Angeles, 826CHI in Chicago, 826michigan (serving Ann Arbor, Detroit, and Ypsilanti), 826 Boston in Boston, 826DC in Washington, DC, 826 New Orleans, and most recently, 826 MSP in Minneapolis.

826 Valencia has also inspired similar projects in several countries. In 2018, twenty of these organisations from around the world formed the informal International Alliance of Youth Writing Centres, which has since welcomed many more into the ranks.[10]

United States

Canada

Italy

United Kingdom

Australia

Sweden

Ireland

Austria

France

Netherlands

Other

In April 2010, as an extension of the 826 Valencia scholarship program, Eggers launched ScholarMatch, a nonprofit organization that connects donors with students to make college more affordable.

External links

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Notes and References

  1. Web site: 826 Valencia: History. www826valencia.org. en-US. 2019-11-27.
  2. News: Claire Cain. Miller. A Genius at Tutoring. https://web.archive.org/web/20071225125351/http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2008/0107/110_print.html. dead. December 25, 2007. Forbes. January 7, 2008. March 24, 2013.
  3. News: Jessica . Zack . Beyond the bean: Coffee importer's conscience fuels Eggers' adventure story . San Francisco Chronicle . January 29, 2018 . January 25, 2018 .
  4. Web site: In SF's Mission Bay, the surprise — and draw for writing center — is the kids - SFChronicle.com. 2019-03-02. www.sfchronicle.com. en-US. 2019-03-13.
  5. News: A heartwarming work of literary altruism. San Francisco Chronicle. March 24, 2013. August 2, 2002. Jane. Ganahl.
  6. News: Andrea . Valencia . 826 Valencia is Expanding . Mission Local . July 11, 2014 .
  7. Web site: Thompson. David. Chris Ware's new mural tells the story of the human race. Eye Magazine. 27 May 2011. 2001.
  8. Web site: Our Façade . 826 Valencia . 27 May 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110727142455/http://www.826valencia.org/store/facade.html . 27 July 2011 .
  9. News: Diane . Dunkelberger . Conquest of the Word Masters . Benefit Magazine . December 1, 2006 . March 24, 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080620171707/http://www.826valencia.org/press/2006_12.html . June 20, 2008 .
  10. Web site: About . The International Alliance of Youth Writing Centres . July 18, 2023.
  11. News: Mia . Watkins . Desert Island Supply Co. offers a cozy writing haven to Birmingham area youth . AL.com. March 18, 2015. March 21, 2018.
  12. Web site: 826 MSP: Our History. November 27, 2019.
  13. Web site: Welcome 826 MSP. July 31, 2019. November 27, 2019.
  14. News: La nuova stagione di Fronte del Borgo si apre con tante novità e un team ancora più forte e pieno di entusiasmo! – SpecialMente. 2018-04-12. SpecialMente. 2018-06-20. it-IT.
  15. News: Allegra . Stratton . Nick Hornby opens Ministry of Stories to get Britain's kids writing again. The Guardian. November 18, 2010. March 24, 2013.
  16. News: Andrew . Hosken . Ministry of Stories opens behind monster shop facade . BBC. November 19, 2010. March 24, 2013.
  17. News: Elizabeth . Day . Roddy Doyle: the joy of teaching children to write. The Guardian. March 11, 2012. March 24, 2013.