Educational Programing Internship
In the Spring 2023 semester, I worked part-time with the educational non-profit organization 826 Valencia as an educational programing intern. Originally founded in San Francisco, CA in the heart of the city’s Mission District, the non-profit has expanded its reach nationwide, including two more mission centers in the Tenderloin and Mission Bay neighborhoods.
I devoted 10-12 hours a week with the Mission Bay staff visiting partner schools Bret Harte Elementary and Malcolm X Academy in the city’s Bayview neighborhood, tutoring 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students.
As part of 826 Valencia’s curriculum and schedule, the organization publishes the works of its students at the conclusion of every school year. However, because of the necessary lead time it takes to edit, proof, and print the books in time in May of each year, the selected works of the students are often taken from November or December. So I did not get to work with the students of Bart Harte and Malcolm X on their writing prompts that would eventually be their published works, but I did get to work with many of those students as they continued into the Spring semester.
I did get to contribute to the post-production process in the form of administrative support and copyediting. Below, you can find the covers to “I Wish I Could Touch My Heart,” by the students of Bret Harte Elementary, and “I Will Be a Fisherman and Go To Space,” by the students of Malcolm X Academy.
The Tenderloin’s mission center is the location of the organization’s podcasts studios. Building off my experience producing the True Life: Grad Life podcast in my Digital Storytelling course, I wanted to explore how 826 Valencia works with students to produce the organization’s “Message In A Bottle” podcasts.
I also had the opportunity to work with the Tenderloin’s staff on one occasion, having provided additional support for a field trip session with Alpha Middle School, visiting from Oakland, CA. These tutoring sessions are similar to my experiences working with the students of Bret Harte and Malcom X in that I support them beginning with the ideation phase of a prompt, then an initial draft, making sure to include sensory details, and then a final draft before proofing the work.
The regular 826 Tenderloin staff also prepares the students in how to vocally perform their stories, as well. Below you can find the embedded playlist of 826 Valencia’s “Message In A Bottle” podcasts episodes featuring Alpha Middle School.