Author Dave Eggers inspires movement in educational tutoring

Dave Eggers, author of Samo’s 2011 summer reading book “Zeitoun,” is reaching out to schools through more than just his writing.Recognized for books such as “What is the What” and “A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius,” Eggers caught a spark of inspiration upon moving to San Francisco to open offices for the literary magazine “McSweeney’s Quarterly.”“We thought, ‘We’ll have all these writers and editors and everybody — sort of a writing community coming into the office every day anyway,” Eggers explains during a TED conference presentation, “why don’t we just open up the front of the building for students to come in after school and get extra help on their written homework, so you have basically no border between these two communities?”The idea seemed doable to his colleagues at McSweeney’s, and soon the company acquired  the property of 826 Valencia in San Francisco, making the first step to what became a movement.826 Valencia was originally zoned for selling merchandise. To fufill the zoning requirement, they opened a pirate supply store in the front of the building. Behind the store, however, is the product ofEggers’ vision: a writing and tutoring center for students of all ages. The center began as free and accessible homework help from the staff of McSweeney’s but quickly developed into much more. Now the project has evolved into a volunteer-based tutoring, writing and publishing organization. The group is staffed by over 1400 volunteers and offers its services to eight major cities in the United States.The company now provides field trips, workshops and in-school tutoring as well as scholarship opportunities and teaching resources. The great success of the organization caught the attention of notable writers such as Isabel Allende and Amy Tan, each of whom sponsored the publication of books written by students involved in the 826 program.“Our mission is based on the understanding that great leaps in learning can happen with one-on-one attention and that strong writing skills are fundamental to future success,” the 826 National website outlines.There is a clear focus on writing skills in Eggers’ work, and with good reason. The ability to have a complete understanding of the written word is a valuable skill that many overlook.“Writing is just such a healthy form of self-expression and a way to get out all this frustration that we feel in our everyday lives,” English teacher Amy Chapman said. “And going forward in life, whether it’s sending memos or writing emails, you need to learn how to communicate and have a structured self. I can’t think of a career that you’ll have where you’re not going to need to write in some way.”It was with this idea in mind that Eggers pushed on with his project and developed it into what it has become today.As a result of his efforts both as a writer and philanthropist, Eggers received the TED Prize in 2008. In keeping with the tradition of the Prize, Eggers was given the opportunity to present at the annual conference and make “one wish to change the world.”“I wish that you — you personally and every creative individual and organization you know — will find a way to directly engage with a public school in your area,” Eggers told conference attendees, “and that you’ll then tell the story of how you got involved, so that within a year we have 1000 examples of innovative public-private partnerships.”To measure the progress of Eggers’ wish, “Once Upon a School” was created. This website serves as a database for inspiration: it provides all who are interested in participating in this movement with ideas, stories of others involved and connections to volunteer opportunities. So far, nearly 300 projects have contributed to making Eggers’ dream into reality.There are many cases of students playing their part, not only in granting Eggers his wish but in bettering the school community in general. However, the concept of inspiring others and making efforts without guaranteed reward seems to be lost.“I love that we have things like peer tutoring here, and peer mentorship; but the ones that people sign up for are the ones where they get paid and I wish that that wasn’t the case,” Chapman said. “The culture here has become more ‘every man for himself’ — we don’t work together, and we don’t realize that if we did work together to help others, we would all benefit.”Any students interested in helping Eggers on his quest can visit www.onceuponaschool.org to start their own projects. There are also tutoring and volunteering opportunities located at the Los Angeles branches of 826, which can be found at 685 Venice Boulevard in Venice and 1714 West Sunset Boulevard in Echo Park.McKenna JensenStaff Writermjensen@thesamohi.com