Mighty Writers Announces Four-Day Student Literacy Festival Next September

Education nonprofit Mighty Writers has announced plans for the first-ever MightyFest, a four-day student literacy festival to take place in Philadelphia from September 27-30, 2018. The festival will include nationally-known speakers, a free Literacy Carnival, and lots of other surprises to help teach kids of all backgrounds to write.

MightyFest highlights include:

• A free student writing carnival on Saturday in Aviation Park (located in front of the Franklin Institute), featuring literacy-themed games and attractions for all kids.
• A Keynote Speech from New York Times Magazine racial justice writer and 2017 MacArthur Genius Grant Fellow Nikole Hannah-Jones on Saturday evening.
• The first-ever "Mighty Writers Day" at all branch libraries on Thursday.
• A soul-music dance party Friday evening at the Planetarium, featuring a special-guest DJ to be announced soon.
• A gospel breakfast tribute to the Dixie Hummingbirds on Sunday morning.

Tim Whitaker, the nonprofit's executive director, hopes MightyFest will shine a much-needed light on Philadelphia's literacy crisis. "MightyFest will show kids what being able to write with clarity can do, and how it can make them feel," he says. "We see what being able to write does for kids every day: grades improve, self-esteem soars, and success follows. MightyFest will help us spread the word that writing can take you places--and we'll make it fun in the process."

Named "Best of Philly" by Philadelphia Magazine in 2017, Mighty Writers continues to grow as it prepares for its tenth birthday next January, having set a new record last year serving over 3,000 Philly kids through free afterschool academies, writing workshops, mentorships, and teen scholar programs. The organization opened writing programs in two city rec centers earlier this year, with plans to announce many more soon, and is preparing to debut a fifth permanent location. "We need to reach a lot more kids, so we're taking the power of writing to where the kids are" says Whitaker. "The high school dropout rate in Philadelphia hovers around 40 percent, which is beyond unacceptable."

The goal is Mighty, he says. "We want to go from worst to first in student literacy."

About Mighty Writers

Mighty Writers was founded in 2009 with the mission to teach kids to think clearly and write with clarity. The organization offers free programs for students from elementary through high school at centers in four diverse Philadelphia neighborhoods, including one bilingual location for Spanish-speaking students. Mighty Writers offers daily afterschool academies, long- and short-term writing classes nights and weekends, teen scholar programs, mentorships, College Prep courses and college essay writing classes. Over 400 of the city's best creative minds (writers, teachers, journalists, etc.) teach 150 writing classes a year to 3,000 kids at Mighty Writers annually.

Founder and executive director Tim Whitaker began his career teaching fifth and sixth grade in Philadelphia before becoming a writer and editor. He is the author of "Crash: The Life and Times of Dick Allen." He was the editor of Philadelphia Weekly (1994-2008), and previously the editor of PhillySport and Pittsburgh magazines. Whitaker was a head writer at NBC Radio and has written for The New York Times, Washington Post and Philadelphia Inquirer.