SEPTEMBER 05, 2018 • PHIlyFREEPRESS.com • UcREVIEW.com • 5


Mighty Fest invites everyone to celebrate the city’s young writers over three days this month


By Jack Firneno Staff Writer


of Mighty Writers, sees it, every kid’s got a story to tell. And, with a four-day festival this month, he’s finding new ways to help get them out.


T Since 2008. The non-


profit group has helped sharpen the writing skills of thousands of Philadel- phia students. They’ve done so mainly through after-school workshops at five locations across the city. Now, they’re reach- ing out even further with the first annual Mighty Fest. Taking place in various locations across the city from Sept. 27 - 30, Mighty Fest offers workshops and activities for kids along with events geared toward adults.


The idea, said, Whita-


ker, is to celebrate the great young writers that live here, and help make their talents better known throughout the city — and, ultimately the country.


“Philly’s a funny city,” he said. “There are a lot of characters, and these kids are really good mim- ics of the people they run into and the situations they see. They’re good at processing them and tell- ing them in a funny way. “We try to get the kids


to structure these stories — get them down on paper and tell them glob- ally.”


Whitaker hopes the event, which includes workshops at nearly every library in the city, a New York Times Maga- zine writer as a keynote speaker and writing car- nivals and dance parties at the Franklin Institute, helps put those talents in a bigger, better light. “For a long time, we’ve wanted to celebrate Philly kids in a way that was public,” he explained. “We think Philly kids are the greatest kids in the world. They’re funny and they’re great storytell- ers, and that doesn’t get much play.”


he way Tim Whitaker, ex- ecutive director


The Fest kicks off on Thursday with “Writing Fun” workshops at just about every library in the city. Here, kids can learn more about creating their own comic books at an after-school event. Next is an adults-only Soul Music Dance Party at the Franklin Institute on Friday night. It’s a way, said Whitaker, to celebrate the many people who help keep Mighty Writers going while also engaging more adults in the city. Then, things pick up steam on Saturday with an all-day writing carni- val outside the Franklin Institute from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. It features 35 tents there with activities for toddlers up to high schoolers. Among them are cursive writing, sci- ence writing, flash fiction, immigrant stories, and the opportunity for kids to write themselves post- cards for the future. That night, Mighty


Writers welcomes key- note speaker Nikole Hannah-Jones to the Phil- adelphia Ethical Society. An award-winning writer for the New York Times magazine, Hannah-Jones is renowned in particular for her work reporting on school segregation in America today. “We looked through a lot of people, includ- ing athletes and people with big name recogni- tion,” said Whitaker on choosing a speaker. “Ulti- mately, we really wanted someone who would talk about the issues that Philadelphia and Mighty Writers live with every day.


“The situation with the schools, underfund- ing and all that, and why it happens in a city like Philadelphia but not, say, Lower Merion — these are the issues we hear about, and we wanted to get someone who’s done a lot of reporting on that.”


The first annual fes- tival wraps up Sunday with a Gospel Breakfast at Girard College at 11 a.m. Similar to the dance party, this event puts mu- sic in the spotlight, with a tribute to the gospel group the Dixie Hum- mingbirds. Founded in California in the 1970s, the celebrated group eventually became a part of Philadelphia’s musical legacy. “We see songwriting and the legacy of a gospel group like this as im- portant for kids to know about, as far as the cul- ture of the city and their own culture. The whole idea of songwriting is something we spend a lot of time on in workshops,” said Whitaker. “We really wanted to tighten things up around writing and Philadelphia, and things that matter to kids and their parents.” For more information, visit www.mightywriters. org/news.


NOW OPEN


2210 South Street Philadelphia, PA 19146 215.545.CATS


www.citycatvets.com citycatvets@gmail.com


Creative, play-based curriculum Arts-infused Pre-K Summer Camp & Afterschool Ages 18 months to 10 years Multicultural environment CCIS subsidy accepted Parent cooperative


Come visit anytime! 215-386-0321


www.stmarysnursery.org 3916 Locust Walk,Philadelphia, PA 19104


UPDATED THROUGHOUT THE DAY, EVERY DAY! FOR NEWS IN CENTER CITY Go to: www.phillyfreepress.com


FOR NEWS IN UNIVERSITY CITY Go to: www.ucreview.com


FOR THE NEWS IN YOUR AREA!


News Every Day!


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12