Last week about 20 volunteers, including myself, braved some nasty New York weather to participate in Story Love! at the CFK office after hours. These sessions, which occur three times a semester, provide an essential and direct connection between CFK’s supporters and the kids we serve. Not every story written can be performed by the Story Pirates before the schools, but every one should certainly be acknowledged. That part was up to us.
One of CFK's students thanks the Story Pirates
Our instructions were to do the following: let the kids know that they did a great job, comment on a particular detail, and mention what we might want to see more of next time. The more specific our comments the better, as it gave a personal touch. That wasn’t very difficult, of course. Who wouldn’t comment on a dark blue monkey that shoots bananas? Or a game of cheese chess? I want to know more!
The experience was really a blast. In fact, judging by the amount of laughter and animated conversation emanating from the room, one would think that the activity was more for the adult participants than the kids. However, the comments written on the stories are priceless to those who receive them. I know that as a child in school I hung on every word of feedback from teachers on things that I wrote—and some of those comments have stuck with me my entire life. Mike Quinzio says it well: “The Story Pirates Program encourages our students to harness their creativity and develop a love for writing. With Story Love, every kid sees that his or her story was read by an adult who cares about their writing and values their ideas.”
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