Volunteer
How Do I Become a Volunteer?
We’ve found that our kids achieve much greater things when the adult-to-student ratio is as low as possible. That means we need plenty of volunteers like you to give them the individualized attention they deserve!
Whether you’re interested in becoming a tutoring tech, a workshop leader, a lab assistant, or another kind of helper, the process begins when you submit our online volunteer application (or, download the PDF and send it to us via email or snail mail). This will add you to our volunteer database.
On the application, be sure to let us know which volunteer orientation you’d like to attend. We’ll review your application and run a background check; assuming everything is in order, we’ll contact you to confirm your orientation session.
Our volunteer orientation is a casual, interactive, two-hour session that not only helps familiarize you with Spells Writing Lab, but also gives you basic tutor training, explains how to plan a wonderful writing workshop, and offers you an opportunity to brainstorm with other Spells volunteers!
Once you’re a certified Spells volunteer, we’ll send you an email once a month letting you know what’s been going on at our lab, giving you additional training support, and listing specific volunteer opportunities.
Tutoring
Spells Writing Lab is open for drop-in tutoring Monday through Thursday from 4–5:30 p.m. No teaching experience is required! We provide tutor training, a buddy system to pair more experienced tutors with newcomers, and ongoing support through our monthly volunteer newsletter and links to online tutoring resources. There’s no minimum time commitment—whether you can volunteer only once a month or every day, you can have a direct impact on the lives of our students.
Because homework loads vary, our tutoring sessions may also include group writing projects, reading time, educational games, and opportunities to write for student publications. The more tutors we have, the more our students can achieve!
Writing Workshops
Workshop Leader
Do you have a fantastic idea for a writing workshop? We’d love to hear about it!
Don’t worry if you’re not a teacher or a professional writer (though if you are, that’s great.) We’re also seeking musicians & lyricists, filmmakers, poets, visual artists, graphic designers, bloggers, stand-up comedians, or anyone else who wants to share their love of words with our young authors. We’ll even help you develop a lesson plan and provide lab assistants during the workshop.
Please note that each of our workshops results in a final product, such as a poetry collage, a literary magazine, or a short film, for the kids to take home. In addition to basic supplies like paper, notebooks, pens, and markers, we have a small number of networked computers, a b/w printer & copier, a tape binding machine, a projector, and a photo printer.
To propose a workshop, we recommend that you first take a look at some of the ones we’ve offered in the past to get a sense of what we do. Then read through our workshop FAQs and fill out the online workshop proposal (or download the PDF and send it to us via email or snail mail).
Lab Assistant
Want to help out, but not quite ready to take the lead? Sign up to be a Spells Lab Assistant!
This is the perfect way for you to experience Spells without biting off more than you can chew. As another volunteer leads the kids through the workshop activities, you’ill help as needed, which might include passing out materials, encouraging kids as they write, working one-on-one with younger children as they dictate their stories, or scanning their work and binding the final product. It’s a piece of cake!
Publications
Are you a graphic designer, artist, copyeditor, or publishing professional? Volunteer to help out with our publications!
Spells Writing Lab offers in-school assistance for newspapers and literary magazines, which includes copyediting and layout. We also produce end-of-semester writing collections with our tutoring students and occasionally need illustration or design expertise for writing workshops. (There are also opportunities for designers who would like to create promotional materials such as bookmarks, posters, and brochures for our organization.)
Whether you’ve been in the business for years, or are still in art school, you can use your art to make a difference. Sign up to be a Spells volunteer today!
Fundraising & Grantwriting
Do you absolutely love event planning? Are you interested in helping out during a fundraiser? Want to earn money for our programs with your grantwriting prowess? We could definitely use your help!
Sign up via our volunteer form.
Lab Intern
For college students who would like to turn their volunteering into an educational experience and can commit at least 15–20 hours per week to our organization, we offer the Spells Writing Lab Internship. In this intensive program, you’ll see almost every aspect of a young non-profit firsthand, from planning and programming to outreach and publicity. This is not a boring office job; your internship will involve hands-on participation as a tutoring tech and lab assistant, as well as a wide variety of tasks that might include some of the following:
- devising games that secretly reinforce literacy building blocks for our tutoring sessions
- outreach to local schools, businesses, families, and community organizations
- helping out with (or even leading your own) writing workshops
- recruitment of new volunteers and maintenance of communication with current ones
- writing blog posts and managing the Spells presence on social networks
- assisting with grantwriting and fundraising efforts
We have an ongoing relationship with the Drexel Co-Op Program, but may also have room for additional interns. Please email info@phillyspells.org for more information on applying.
Volunteer Orientations
Our volunteer orientation is a casual, interactive, two-hour session that not only helps familiarize you with Spells Writing Lab, but also gives you basic tutor training, explains how to plan a wonderful writing workshop, and offers you an opportunity to brainstorm with other Spells volunteers!
You may register for an upcoming volunteer orientation by filling out our volunteer application. Or, if you’ve already applied and only need to sign up for an orientation session, send your full name and the requested orientation date to volunteers@phillyspells.org.
Spells Writing Lab
2526 N. Alder Street
Philadelphia, PA 19133
267-670-0869
info@phillyspells.org
