Have you ever been afraid to speak in front of an audience? My whole life I lived in fear of public speaking. I remember when I was young and had to read in front of my classmates and teachers. Butterflies created a tornado in my stomach. As soon as I started to get older my fear of speaking in front of an audience and maintaining a conversation started to become a problem in life. I soon found myself at One Bright Ray Community High School. While attending One bright Ray Community High School I joined the We Love Philly Program. I knew that Mr. Aponte would have me face my fear of speaking in front of people. That day came when we volunteered for Mighty Writers.
Mighty Writers is a Nonprofit Organization that teaches kids to think with clarity. They have academic workshops for toddlers and teens. More than 3,500 kids a year visit Mighty Writers. Mighty Writers focuses on empowering kids to read and write so that they are able to achieve and succeed in the real world. Mighty writers supports and gives children the love, so that they feel comfortable and safe. Their programs include writing workshops such as comic book club ,women empowerment, and non fiction artist to name a few. They also help kids publish their own work so they can influence other people as well.
After arriving at the Mighty Writers club, I was amazed at all of the things that were taking place. As I walked in the room full of kids, they were practicing to perform for African American History Month. Students in the We Love Philly Program were all assigned a kid. My assigned partner’s name was Sharon. We prepared by practicing the poem she wrote as she was pretending to be Oprah Winfrey. She performed her poem in front of a large crowd and she did so well. She was confident, spoke eloquently, and she is only 9 years old. Her topic was slavery and after she was finished I asked her about how she feels about inequality. She said I don’t like it because even though we aren’t the same color we should get along. I learned so much from the students performing and it made me think “I can inspire young people if I overcome my fear of speaking in front of a crowd” That is exactly what i did by the end of the night. I spoke in front of a crowd and got a standing ovation.
Throughout the program I saw respect, I saw so many educated students, I saw the love in the lessons they teach and I saw why the kids love to come there. I think this is a fabulous fun and outgoing organization. I recommend parents who have children of all ages to send their child to Mighty Writers. If your child needs extra help with their homework or you want your child to expand their ability to express themselves, make new friends, and build their confidence then send them to Mighty Writers. Check out our podcast episode above with their program Director Jamilah Thompkins Bigelow and be sure to watch our volunteer video below to see what a night at Mighty Writers is like.