Response to Dave Egger's TED talk

After watching Dave Egger’s TED talk titled “Dave Eggers' wish: Once Upon a School” I realize the importance of one on one attention, and how critical it is for students. Studies show that a student who has 35 to 40 hours a year of one on one attention can achieve a grade level higher. In his TED talk Dave Eggers tells the story of his shop/ tutor center 826 Valencia and how it has expanded across the country. Dave talks about how he had grown up around teachers and how they are the most hardworking and constantly inspiring people he knows. These teachers however were having trouble with students that were having difficulty keeping up at grade level in writing and reading in particular. Lots of these kids had learning disabilities, in households where English is not the primary language and were in schools were underfunded. All of these odds were stacked against them and were proving to be something difficult for them to overcome. The teachers expressed the need for more bodies, more people to help, who could provide one on one attention, and more expertise from people who have experience in the English area. Students in today’s schooling cannot get one hour of free time a week, because there just isn’t enough time in the week. Dave then thought of the massive group of people he knew, writers, editors, journalists, graduate students, and assistant professors who had flexible hours and an interest in the English word. People who in other words has the time and interest, but had no place to bring their communities together.

So when Dave Eggers rented out a building for his work and company, a place where writers came in everyday for their jobs, he decided to create the place that would bring the two communities together. The idea was that they would be working on whatever they were working on for their business, and then at 2:30 the kids would come in and the workers would put down their work for a later time to help the students and tutor them in English. However, the space was zoned for retail meaning the space had to be used to sell something. After refurnishing the space they the owners received several comments stating that the room looked like the hull of a ship, thus implementing the idea to spell supplies for the average buccaneer. So they sold pirate supplies like planks, peg legs, eye patch display, and supplies to prevent scurvy. Right behind the pirate shop was the tutoring center, and behind that the publishing studio where all of the writers worked. So Dave and his coworkers and volunteers set up everything, and waited for weeks for people to come in for help, but no one came. After Dave hired his executive director, who made connections with teachers, parents, and students, the place became packed.

The basis for the program was one on one attention. And what made it so different from other tutoring programs was that there was no stigma, because it wasn’t for kids who needed extra help because they couldn’t keep up in school; it was for kids who wanted to enhance their writing, and it was a fun place to come and do so. It also theoretically created a more positive, happy community because kids got their homework done by 5:30 and got to enjoy the rest of the evening with their families, they got to play and have fun enjoying other hobbies which created happy families as well as a happy community. Eventually the program gathered 1400 volunteers on their roster. The program began bringing in classes for field trips, and in the shop they wrote a book in a day. Volunteers started to come into schools so students who couldn’t/didn’t come into the shop, could still have this help. Teachers direct volunteers what they could do to help, and eventually one of the schools gave the program a classroom, which they staffed all day and served all 529 students in the middle school. The program had grown large, and started to earn some recognition, that is when Isabelle Eynde contacted the program and told them to assign a book with high school students about how to achieve peace in a violent book, and she would publish and sponsor book which would be available all over the world on Amazon and in shops around the bay area. This book was titled “Waiting To Be Heard” and led to a series of book, the second book was titled “I Might Get Somewhere” which was sponsored by Amy Tan. When writing the books, the kids worked harder than Dave had ever seen, leading him to the conclusion that kids will work harder than they ever have before if they know that their writing is going to be permanent, if it will be on a shelf, know that no one can diminish what they’ve thought and said, that their words and thoughts have been honored and paid attention too. This led to a series of shops that were very similar to that of 826 Valencia including the Brooklyn superhero supply, The Echo Park Time Travel Mart, Word St., Ink Spot, Youth Speaks, Studio St. Louis, Austin Bat Cave, and Fighting Words. These shops enforce Dave Eggers wish “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 and that you’ll then tell the story of how you got involved, so that within a year we have 1,00 examples of transformative partnerships”. These same words are found on the side “Once Upon a School” which is the “mission site” for the program.

As far as Dave Egger’s speaking style goes, his whole presentation is a story. This is different from the others because while the precious TED talks had stories in them, the stories did not consume the entire presentation like it did with Dave’s. This style is both beneficial and negative because while the story seemed to drag on and just keep going, it was a good way to keep viewer’s attention. Dave stated in the beginning that he was nervous and it seemed to show a lot throughout his presentation. Dave spoke with a mumble, especially in the beginning of the talk, as well as the fact that he stuttered and fumbled over his words quite a lot, he was also very interactive with his hands, but almost in a fidgety nervous way which made me as a view a little uncomfortable. However, Dave seemed very passionate about what he was speaking about which makes the talk more interesting.

As I listened to Dave Egger list off the benefits of one on one attention, devotion to the student’s work, and boundless optimism and possibility of creativity and ideas, I really wished that those resources had been available to me as a child growing up. Knowing that I had a place outside of school and outside of the home where I could go to for writing help, where I knew that there would be someone who could sit down with me and help me and not have to be helping 30 others students and could only devote 2 minutes of their time to me before they were off to the next student would be very beneficial. Even today I wish there was a place like that for me to go. This seems very beneficial because I would feel more confident about my work, and it would take away some of the stress that comes with writing a paper. It also seems like programs like 826 Valencia really emphasizes the importance of creativity, which is something that I miss from elementary school. If I had a place like 826 Valencia, it would encourage me to write more outside of school. In high school, every paper you write is non-fiction, and typically a reflection of some sort. But being able to actually write a story like you could in elementary school, would definitely help me to find more passion in my writing, something that for the most part, I struggle to find.

If the school could provide some sort of a program like 826 Valencia, it would be beneficial, but not as beneficial as an outside source would be. Although hard to explain, there is a difference between a school backed writing lab which helps with certain projects and has other student’s projects to relate to, and wouldn’t help with many extra curricular writing, and a place that focuses on your writing and can’t compare to John’s essay that was so much better than your essay. The ladder option would allow the volunteer to be creative with the student and expand and allow out of the box thinking which would be beneficial because it creates a different atmosphere than an in school program.