YPG Is Back to Show More StoryLove
Arr, matey! The Story Pirates are back, and YPG is once again happily walking the plank!
On Wednesday, April 27 at 7:00 p.m., 23 members of YPG Cares from over 8 AAP member publishing houses, along with several literary agency representatives, gathered for the second time in Manhattan’s Drama Book Shop (http://www.dramabookshop.com/) to volunteer for the Story Pirates’ (http://storypirates.org/) StoryLove session.
StoryLove is a program that encourages elementary school students to practice creative writing and gives students the opportunity to see their stories come to life on the stage. The program is run by the nonprofit organization Story Pirates, which works to promote the arts and literacy education through a number of programs and events.
In the StoryLove program, Story Pirates attend a school, where they encourage students to write short fiction stories. Then, the Pirates choose several stories and make a second trip to the school to perform these stories in front of the students.
Whether or not their story is performed, all of the students receive encouraging, personalized feedback on their stories. YPG Cares volunteers helped out with this part of the program by congregating at Drama Book Shop and reading about everything from bunnies who bounce on trampolines to a boy who climbs over a wall to China in pursuit of a 1,000,000-inch flat screen TV. Oftentimes, before they penned a supportive note to the young author, volunteers would stop and share a particularly entertaining story with the group. After all, who could possibly keep a story about a character named “Orange Shrimp” or “Purplina the Alien” to themselves?
With two successful StoryLove sessions complete, YPG Cares looks forward to returning in the summer months to embark on another voyage with the Story Pirates. In the meantime, check out weekly performances by the Story Pirates, every Saturday at 2pm at the Drama Book Shop (250 West 40th Street btw 7th and 8th Ave).