Our workshops will serve DCPS students both on-site at the schools with which we develop relationships and within the writing center. However, we are open to working with all students in DC, not just those within the DCPS system.

Yes! Our intention is to for several educators to serve on our board at any one time. The remaining board will be composed of writers, fundraisers, and people of strong standing from within the DC community.

We anticipate achieving non-profit status in the coming months. Our application has been filed with and received by the IRS for review and approval.

Great questions! Our workshops help students expand their horizons through challenging and fun writing workshops. These may be presented on-site in their classrooms or at our center. The workshops are developed by a panel of educators, writers, and various others to get as much creative input as possible.

Here's a sample workshop. This one was conducted at Cesar Chavez Public Charter School for Public Policy on June 16, 2008:

In our "Speedy Playwriting" workshop, 10th grade students at Cesar Chavez Public Charter School for Public Policy developed a three-act play in one school day. The play, which made its world premiere to an audience including Capitol Hill staffers, tackles the complex issue of immigration reform, a subject the students were covering in school. Their teachers asked us to help the students see how the subject matter and their opinions could be communicated through writing and dramatic performance. Students began the workshop with a free-writing exercise. They received a photo of a person or scene related to immigration and created background stories for them. These stories served as inspiration for the play they then developed over the rest of the day. In a matter of hours, students invented diverse characters, constructed dialogue, imagined settings, and divined plots that combined their intended message with dramatic flair. Finally, in what was perhaps the most enjoyable part of the day for students and volunteers alike, desks were pushed back and a stage was set for an improvised performance of the masterpiece. As one current 10th grader/future Tony Award winner put it, "It's time for the spotlight!"

We work side-by-side with educators to develop programming that is appropriate for their classroom needs and goals. The Speedy Playwrighting workshop is a perfect example of how specifically we cater to those needs and goals of educators. Interested educators can fill out this pre-workshop form and email it to our program director to help us understand what kind of programming would be useful and inspiring for their students.

CLWC will offer 2-3 workshops a week during the school year. Assuming an average class size of about 15 students, we will provide instruction to approximately 1,500 students in a given school year and likely many more than that. Additionally, after-school tutoring will be available for hundreds of students in our Columbia Heights center once it opens. CLWC envisions helping thousands of individual students in the Washington, DC area annually, and hundreds of local educators who will use our workshops for future instruction.

A group of community members, educators, and professionals of many ages and backgrounds came together in fall 2007 to bring this center to life.

• If you'd like to make an in-kind or monetary donation, please email donations.


• If you'd like to volunteer, please email our Volunteer Director.


• For information about other opportunities, please email info.


• To stay informed of other ways you can support our work, please sign up for our mailing list on our website.

Creative and innovative fundraisers. Grants from foundations and organizations dedicated to funding youth programming and education. Individuals inspired by our vision and our cause.

Love and gratitude. A plaque in our center memorializing your gracious contribution. Recognition as a founding investor in all future lists of donors.

One $25,000 donation covers the cost of programming equipment and supplies for a full year. These may including writing supplies, healthy snacks for students, workbooks, bookmaking equipment, and a magic thought machine!

Another $25,000 will allow us to purchase ALL of the equipment kids need to stir their creative juices and unleash their minds, including desks, chairs, computers, A/V Equipment, dry erase boards, and a printing press!

Two $25,000 donations can fund one year's salary for a full-time program director who organizes and leads workshops inspiring thousands of DC area students to become better writers!

Three $25,000 donations cover the annual rent for a space in which we can provide workshops to thousands of DC area students and over a hundred DC area teachers. The space will also be open 5 days a week for free after school drop-in tutoring in a safe and nurturing environment.

Yes. Our next volunteer orientation is on Thursday, July 31 at 5:00PM at the Dow Lohnes Law Offices. Please email our Volunteer Director for details.

We're awesome! (Not to say that other non-profits aren't awesome!) Our primary focus is on bringing out the inner writer in every child in the DC area. We aim to make writing fun and not a chore!

If you want general information or you want to be directed specifically to one of our board members, please email us and we will share your question with the correct person.

For liability reasons, we can't have an open policy for the public to attend our workshops. If you'd like to observe one of our workshops, please email us for more information.

The best way is to sign up for our mailing list. We are also on a whole mess of social networks that are updated frequently:

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