Did you make a New Year’s resolution to make a difference? Still trying to figure out exactly how to get started? We can help!

With your help, we can serve more of Philadelphia’s youth through our free after-school tutoring program and weekend writing workshops. If you have free time on weekday afternoons, become a tutor and make a direct impact on students’ learning and achievement. Or, if weekends are more your thing, help out with our innovative writing workshops or teach one yourself!

Don’t take our word for it! Here are just a few of the things our volunteers say about us:

“What I really enjoy about tutoring is . . . just getting time to talk to each of the students. The kids just have so much to share.” —Alexa Peluso, volunteer

“When I first came here, the part that I was very attached to was just the people, the kids. It’s really priceless, and that’s why I keep coming back to Spells . . . for all the little moments of laughter and joy.” —Francisco Santoni, volunteer

“Spells is awesome! You should definitely come and volunteer. You won’t regret it. You’ll probably want to tell all your friends to come and volunteer, too.” —Carley Roche, volunteer

Want to find out more?

by Ahmir, age 7

A turkey would be a good pet (meal) because you could cook it for dinner and eat it. So first you wash it off. Then you take his feathers off, and throw them in the trash. Next, you put him in a pot on the stove. Once he’s done, get him out of the pot. We put the turkey on the plate, and then we eat him! We wipe our hands off after we eat.

written during after-school tutoring at Spells Writing Lab

We love our volunteers, so we’re working to make it easier for you to sign up for volunteer opportunities and find out when we need help. In the new Spells Volunteer Information Center (VicNet), you can see when we need volunteers, sign up for specific volunteer slots, track your volunteer hours, and even update your contact information, all in one convenient place.

To log into VicNet, first click on the Volunteer Login tab in the upper right-hand corner of our homepage.

This will take you directly to the login page, where you can enter the email address you used to sign up with Spells on our volunteer application, and the password you selected on the application form (or, the one included in your emailed invitation to use VicNet).

If you forget your password: Click the “Forgot your password?” link on the login page. You will be prompted to enter your email address, and click the Go button. If you continue to experience difficulty accessing your information, please email our volunteer coordinator for further assistance. She can send you your VicNet password by email.

Once you’ve logged in, you’ll see a screen similar to this one (click to view larger):

Using the tabs, you can view mail from our volunteer coordinator, review and update the information you included on your application, view your schedule and sign up for volunteer slots, view your service history, or change your password. Most of these are easy to figure out, so we’d like to concentrate on the My Schedule tab.

When you click on the My Schedule tab, you will see a calendar similar to this one (click to view larger):

This tab lets you view and print your schedule, in addition to adding or removing yourself from a schedule. The Help Wanted balloons on the calendar indicate volunteer opportunities that still need more people.

To schedule yourself, simply click on one of the Help Wanted balloons. On the next page, you can see a list of the volunteers already attending and how many more slots remain. Select the Schedule Me button to sign yourself up!

If your plans have changed and you need to remove yourself from the schedule, simply click on the date you’d like to edit and select the Remove Me button. Please note that you may not be able to remove yourself less than twenty-four hours before the volunteer opportunity. If you need to make a last-minute cancellation, please contact our volunteer coordinator directly.

We hope this system is clear and will help make it easier for our volunteers to know when they are needed and schedule themselves. If you have any questions about using the new Volunteer Information Center, please let us know at volunteer@phillyspells.org!

We had such a great summer at Spells Writing Camp this year, and we’re still putting the finishing touches on several projects. But here’s one that’s ready to go—a four-episode web series written and produced by some of our Writing Webisodes week campers.

We’ll be creating more web series on Mondays and Wednesdays this fall during our new weekday writing workshops after tutoring. If you like what you see and want to help our students bring their ideas to life, register to volunteer or send us an email at volunteer@phillyspells.org.

With just over a week to go before our big spring fundraiser with Buzz Bissinger, and only two weeks until his new book, Father’s Day, hits stores, we thought you might like to get a sneak peek at this amazing new memoir. Newsweek recently ran an excerpt of the book, and Buzz made a video featuring him and his twin sons, which can be viewed below. Tickets for Being Buzz Bissinger are still available, or check out the silent auction items, which can also be bid on from afar!