Q: When is the training? How long is it?
A: Training to participate as a SpeakOut! Workshop facilitator takes place both digitally and in a face-to-face session in fall and spring. Generally, our primary orientation and training happens in early September during the late afternoon or early evening. It lasts 2-3 hours and covers the basic program philosophy, guidelines, and practical training for the weekly workshops. This fact-to-face training complements and follows our online training module. First you’ll complete the online portion (LINK) and then attend an orientation training with the other incoming facilitators. You’ll leave the online and f2f training with a good sense of the program, your responsibilities, and the amazing writers you’ll work with in your SpeakOut writing group.
From potential SO volunteers:
Q: How do I get started with SpeakOut?
A: Start by getting in touch through the contact info on SpeakOut’s website. SpeakOut folks will be happy to talk with you to see if SpeakOut sounds like a good fit for you. The sooner the better – initial trainings are at the start of each semester and help to orient volunteers to the program.
Q: I did the training. What’s next?
A: Up next is your first workshop! Make sure you have the correct schedule, including time and place for your SpeakOut site. Get in touch with the intern who is helping facilitate your site to discuss plans and workshop activities.
Q: What is the time commitment for SpeakOut?
A: Workshops run weekly for the duration of fall and spring semesters. They are an hour and a half in duration, in most cases. If you’re the one leading the facilitation, you can expect to be dedicating at least an hour or two per week outside of those workshops on things like preparing lesson plans, typing up and responding to writers’ work, and gathering/printing materials for workshops. For volunteers who aren’t in charge of leading the group, the time commitment is a little more of a choose-your-own-adventure; if you’re interested in trying your hand at lesson planning, you will likely be encouraged to pursue that. It’s not uncommon for all volunteers in a group to equally divide weekly writing submissions (for taking home, typing up, and writing feedback) which tends to add a good hour or so (depending on the volume of submissions — and clarity of handwriting).
From volunteers: new, intermediate, advanced
Q: How do I respond to a poem?
A: SpeakOut offers feedback training for interns and volunteers, so no one is entering the workshop space without some prior coaching. That said, most participants are new to the writing process. Our feedback is primarily encouraging. We want the participants to feel safe sharing their work. No red ink. No harsh criticism. No teacherly behavior on our part. Instead, we point out moments in a poem that are emotive or evocative, vivid images or striking language. Tell the writer how you felt when you read the poem. And always encourage more.
Q: What kinds of writing do we feature in SpeakOut? Does it have to be poetry?
A: SpeakOut features all forms of creative writing, and diverse creative expression is encouraged in the workshop space. Most participants choose to write poetry. This genre is particularly fitting for writers of all skill levels, though most facilitators will also bring in prompts from fiction and nonfiction as well.
Q: Can I come to intern meetings?
A: Please ask if you’re interested! Intern meetings can be a great opportunity to get a better sense of the guiding ideas, stories, theories, experiences behind the design and execution of SpeakOut. There are some days that may feel very relevant and helpful for volunteers, and others that may not make much sense out of context – so be sure to check with Tobi & Mary Ellen ahead of time to select a day that works for everyone.
Q: Can the writers curse in their writing? Can facilitators in the workshops? What’s off limits?
A: Short answer, yes, both writers and facilitators can use curse words. Most of our writers use colloquial language, and so-called curse words are often part of that vernacular. In order to meet participants where they’re at, we encourage their natural form of expression. If, however, the language begins overly glorifying drugs or gangs or violence, we will usually refrain from including these pieces in the journal. And the jails will censor inappropriate – gang-related – artwork as well.
Q: How are workshop lesson plans designed? Who designs them?
A: There is great leeway in how a group chooses to design a lesson plan. Some groups will collaborate each week, with both interns and volunteers designing the lesson plan. Other groups choose to rotate each week, meaning one person at a time designs the plan. Old lesson plans are stored online and may serve as jumping off points for new facilitators. That said, SpeakOut encourages creative lesson plan design and new participants are encouraged to bring new ideas to the workshop space.
Q: Can I develop a writing activity?
A: Absolutely! Only suggestion here would be to run the idea by other group members. This helps polish the activity before rolling it out. A type of hiccup reduction, if you will.
Q: Can I stay in touch with a SpeakOut writer after the workshop ends?
A: This is up to you, though the jail has certain restrictions about this. If you volunteer for the jail, they ask volunteers not to have contact with anyone outside the workshop space. Which means they don’t want you to be pen-paling or visiting writers while they are still inside. The jail basically doesn’t want you to have a personal relationship with any of the writers. Since Fort Collins is a small town, I have seen writers after they get out of jail around town. I typically let them approach me. It’s whatever you feel comfortable with really but there is no obligation to stay in touch.
Q: Who do I contact about switching to a different SpeakOut workshop?
A: Mary Ellen would be the best person to get in touch with about this. She oversees all the groups and helps organizing all things related to volunteering. If you aren’t sure which group you’d like to volunteer with, it would be good to go as a guest to a few of the groups you might be interested in working with to get a better idea of fit.
Q: How does SpeakOut decide which writings get published?
A: There are a few things we look for – content and quantity of writing submitted by one writer. There tends to be an overall page limit for the journals that we try to stick to so that the journal doesn’t get too lengthy. So, if a writer has submitted several pieces, we will generally pick maybe 3-5 pieces, depending on length of all their contributions. It is rare for a writer to have a piece that is longer than 2-3 pages in the journal. For longer pieces, these can go online at the SpeakOut blog (www.speakoutclc.wordpress.com). As for content, we typically will not publish pieces glorifying violence, drug use, or gang activity, and anything mentioning another person’s name will need to be anonymized. Curse words are astericked out in the journal.
Q: How often does the journal come out and where does it get distributed?
A: The journal comes out once a semester, usually early May and early December. Copies are distributed to local libraries, coffee shops, pop-up reading events, and on various “free” shelves around campus.
Q: How can I support SpeakOut after I am done volunteering?
A: You can support SpeakOut financially or by participating in journal distributions and launches as described below. You may also volunteer through mentoring incoming volunteers and interns. Please email Tobi or Mary Ellen for available opportunities.
Q: How can I support SpeakOut if I cannot volunteer directly right now?
A: You can support SpeakOut through a variety of ways. If you wish to support SpeakOut monetarily, you may donate to the Community Literacy Center here: https://csuclc.wordpress.com/donate-2/. The donations will go towards writing supplies and activities and the costs of publishing the journal. You can also help by sharing/distributing SpeakOut journals to friends, family, or your local coffee shops. Lastly, you can attend the SpeakOut journal launches for the youth and/or adults in Larimer County Jail and Community Corrections.
Q: I can’t volunteer weekly in the evening; is there another way to get involved?
A: See above 🙂
From writers:
Q: How do I get a copy of a previous journal that I was published in?
A: Easiest way is to stop by the CLC office in Eddy 346 during business hours. Or, contact the CLC office via email to determine an alternative option: clc@colostate.edu.
Q: Why do you attribute my work with only my first name and last initial or a penname?
A: Our number one concern is the writer’s well-being and safety. Many of our participants choose to write about topics or events that could have negative repercussions in their lives, whether disclosing gang violence or drug use or general criminality. For example, if a writer uses their real name, a potential future employer might easily find their written work online and decide to hire someone else. This type of needless discrimination runs counter to our goals at SpeakOut.
Q: Is there a group on the outside?
A: There is currently no group for writers outside of the SpeakOut workshops. However, you can still participate online, find writing prompts, and submit work on the CLC blog here: https://speakoutclc.wordpress.com/.