Stacey Ritz is
the Founder and Executive Director of Youth WRITE Now, Inc. As a freelance
writer, author and philanthropist, Ritz founded YWN in 2013 as a national
writing initiative for today’s youth. *Come back tomorrow to hear from Brooke, a young writer in the Youth WRITE Now Mentoring Program.
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| STACEY RITZ, M.Ed. |
Founded
in 2013, Youth WRITE Now, Inc. is a national writing initiative to motivate
today’s youth to use their unique voices to inspire positive change in our
world. After earning a Master’s Degree in Education from Antioch University, as
an author and freelance writer for countless print and online newspapers and
magazines I wanted to create a non-profit organization enabling children and
teens to utilize their writing abilities.
Statistics confirm that strong writers are strong readers—and whether or not you are interested in a future
career in the world of writing, developed writing skills can assist in
countless future aspirations. Whether you enjoy creative writing,
short stories, novels, essays, non-fiction, fiction or poems—writing allows you
to develop your own voice, it allows you to share your imagination and to
cultivate ideas that have the power to make a positive difference. Strong writing skills are beneficial when
writing college admission applications and when writing resumes. Using our
words through the medium of writing, we give power to what exists inside of
each us—words that can start a movement, change perceptions or simply provide laughter or insight to the masses.
Youth
WRITE Now, Inc. has implemented a nationwide young writer-mentor program to assist writers
ages five through seventeen to develop their writing skills. As a new non-profit
organization, we are in the process of accepting applications for writing
mentors. Writing mentors can be freelance writers, teachers/educators,
published authors or journalists. Volunteer mentors are paired with youth who
express an interest in the program and are given the ability to discuss and
provide feedback to their mentee’s writing, via e-mail. As a mentor with Youth
WRITE Now, Inc. you have the power to be a positive inspiration for a young writer
looking to develop their unique voice. If you are interested in becoming a
volunteer mentor, please contact us.
In
addition to our writing mentorship program, YWN provides a Community Give
Back Program— donating countless books, notebooks, pens and pencils to schools
from coast to coast—to further motivate today’s youth to write! Youth WRITE
Now, Inc. shines the spotlight on writing! Through promoting the parent
(teacher)/child relationship by enhancing the creativity of today’s youth
via writing and other artistic outlets, we strive to empower each child to use
their unique and powerful voice to develop self-confidence, imagination and
creativity.
While
our main focus is on writing, many of today’s youth report back that they build
on that creative foundation of writing through other artistic outlets such as
painting, play-writing/theater, music/song writing, public speaking, sculpting
and so much more. We believe there are no limits to what can be achieved when
you are true to yourself and possess self-confidence (which can so often be
found through writing!)- your creativity becomes limitless once you tap into
the words inside of you.
Please
consider signing up to become a volunteer writing mentor for Youth WRITE Now,
Inc. – let’s work together to encourage today’s youth to write the next chapter
in our ever changing world—a chapter of positive growth, change and
development.
Youth WRITE Now Website
www.youthwritenow.org
Volunteer Mentor Program
http://youthwritenow.org/young-writer-mentor-program/
Facebook Page
https://www.facebook.com/YouthWriteNow
Contact Us - http://youthwritenow.org/contact/
