We welcome students to join us for Free Weekly Writing and Performance workshops held on Saturdays from 12-3pm at Science Leadership Academy at 22nd & Arch Streets in Philadelphia. A schedule of upcoming workshops is available on our Event Calendar.

No Registration is required. Students are asked to sign in upon arrival.

Workshop Structure:

Our workshops are divided into six areas to help students become better writers, better performers and engaged members of the PYPM community.

1) Individual Writing Prompt: Students receive one or two writing prompts that serve as a catalyst to spark new, creative material for their writing. It will help them develop a variety of topics in their writing portfolio, and to explore ideas they may not have otherwise thought to consider in their wriitng.

2) Mentor Conferencing: Students receive one-on-one conferences with PYPM mentors and workshop facilitators to get feedback on their writing and performance, ranging from specific help to overcome writers block, to fine-tuning a perfomance piece. This also serves as an opportunity for students to speak with mentors about other areas of personal and artistic development, including college essays, performance opportunities outside of PYPM, or school-related matters on which they are seeking advice.

3) Interactive Activity: PYPM offers fun and creative ways to have our students interact with one another. Our state-of-change activities give our "veteran" students and opportunity to welcome new participants to PYPM. Through use of games, icebreakers, or physical challenges that facilitate effective communication, active listening and teamwork, we encourage students to get to know one another.

4) Workshop: Our workshop facilitators provide structured lesson plans that cover various topics of writing techniques, performance style, personal development, academic engagement, and communication skills, to help students grow as artists, students and overall people. Workshop is either facilitated by a PYPM mentor, or a guest facilitator, who have included renowned spoken word poets from Philadelphia and around the country.

5) Group Writing Prompt: Students break out into groups and are given a group writing prompt, from which they create a group poem. This portion of our workshop allows students to engage with one another, learning the importance of communication, effective teamwork, and leadership skills.

6) Performance: Each workshop ends with an "open mic" performance where the groups share the pieces they developed from the writing prompt. This allows them to become accustomed to sharing their work verbally, helping them develop their public speaking skills, as well as their confidence and self-esteem. Our students are very supportive of their peers, and use this time to encourage one another in their growth and development as writers, performers and people.