Why did Rachel get involved with SideWalk Chalk? “I live right near one of the schools. I love writing and pursued Journalism in college. SideWalk Chalk was the perfect opportunity to work with children in my community and share a passion!”

What’s her favorite part of volunteering? “Seeing the children so proud of their writing! I love it when they write something and are so excited to share it and read it to their classmates and me at the end of a session.”

Any embarrassing memories from elementary school? “We once had someone visit with a variety of animals and I volunteered, was called on stage, and was then PETRIFIED when they brought out a huge boa constrictor. I am still very afraid of snakes to this day!”

Reading any good books right now? “I’m currently engrossed in the Hunger Games series (they are addicting speedy reads) as well as Steve Jobs’ biography. I love inspirational biographies!”

Rachel is great asset to the SWC team! Not only is she personable and down to earth, she’s great around the students. In between giving great writing advice and high fives, you can often find Rachel comparing favorite sports teams with the students. She is a huge Boston sports fan, and enjoys the friendly banter of a good sports conversation with the students. We are very lucky to have Rachel on the SideWalk Chalk team lineup!

While the 5th grade classes wrote letters to their pen pals from the Bishop Gadsden retirement community, the 4th graders split into small groups and were given 30 minutes to write a song based on a book.

Here’s one of our favorites. Watch it until the end. Enjoy the silliness.

So why did Laura decide to add SWC to her already busy life? ”I got involved with SideWalk Chalk to complete volunteer hours for my arts management class. After one day at Mitchell, I no longer looked at it as something I had to complete for class, I looked at it as a blessing.”

Her favorite part about volunteering? ”My favorite part of volunteering with SideWalk Chalk is witnessing the pure joy and innocence of a child. No matter what worries or stresses you have weighing on you when you enter those classrooms, their smiling faces remind you to be thankful.”

Laura’s favorite memory with SideWalk Chalk? ”My favorite memory has to be the day I received some pretty sweet Michael Jackson dance moves from a 5th grader. Needless to say she showed me up.”

What’s she reading right now? ”The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell and Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis”

Laura proves that our volunteers aren’t the only ones doing the teaching! Laura’s love for our students is abundant. Her patience and kindness make her a natural in the classroom and a wonderful role model for the students. And SideWalk Chalk feels blessed to have her on our team! Not only is she incredibly well-read and well-rounded, but she’s also one of SideWalk Chalk’s most well-liked volunteers. Laura’s commitment to the students and her overall kindhearted nature make her a pleasure to work with. SideWalk Chalk is incredibly thankful that this busy girl thinks we’re worth her time.

Each year the email marketing extraordinaires at My Emma announce 25 nonprofits from across the country that they would like to recognize because of their work, results, and best practices.

We’re excited to announce that this year we were chosen as one of the honorees!

What do we get? Free My Emma service for life! Some graphic design work! Good will! Lots of high-fives! We’re pretty excited.

Thank you, Emma!

When photographer
Ben Gately Williams
walks into a classroom,
the kids get excited.

They get excited because he’s tall (“Whoa! He’s tall!” they say), and because he’s always carrying a camera.

Our favorite photographer said:
“A friend and I want to ride bicycles from New Brunswick to Baja.”

and asked:
“Can we do it as a fundraiser for SideWalk Chalk?”

We said:
“Whoa! You’re tall!” and, “Yes!”

His butt’s on the bike, but it’s your donations to SideWalk Chalk that pump his legs. Visit Brunswick to Baja to find out more about the trip, meet the riders, and join in the experience by sponsoring a leg of the journey.

And keep an eye out for the date of the big send-off party, including an auction for paintings and photographs from some of Charleston’s top artists.

SideWalk Chalk is seeking a personable, self-motivated student who wants great hands-on experience helping plan and execute two major fundraisers for an arts-based nonprofit.

You would be working beside our Program Director, and dealing directly with our volunteers, Executive Director, and board.

The first fundraiser, in the second week of March, is a send off party/silent auction for photographer Ben Williams’ bicycle trip across America to raise money for SideWalk Chalk.

In April, we have our second spring fundraiser, the annual Charleston Doughnut Run.

You must also be free Wednesdays from 10:00 am – 12:00 pm to volunteer with us at Mitchell Elementary.

To apply for the internship, send your resume to Laine Hester at lainehester@sidewalkchalk.org, and include available interview times.

With the help of Edna and Ernie, a library full of fourth and fifth grade students began writing about their favorite places in the city, all of which will be published by the SideWalk Press in this year’s anthology See My City 2012.

If you’re planning a trip to Charleston soon, or just want to know what things look like from four feet off the ground, See My City 2012 is guaranteed to be the only guide book you need. These future famous authors’ stories, along with a few stories from some already famous writers, will be published this spring.

Use the “Buy Now” button below to pre-order your copy, and you will also be donating a copy to one of our young authors!

The parade starts at 6pm from Brewster’s Court (St. Phillip Street) and proceeds to the Party in Elliottborough Park (134 Line Street).

Costumes are STRONGLY ENCOURAGED!

There will be awesome food from Roti Rolls, Hello My Name is BBQ, King of Pops, and beer and wine available for purchase.

There will be activities, games, and contests for kids! Costume Contests, Jack-O-Lantern contest, sack races, corn hole, photo booth, bake sale, pumpkin baking contest and much MORE!

Music by the V-Tones and the South Carolina Broadcasters.

There will be raffle tickets available for purchase to win great prizes!

All proceeds to benefit SideWalk Chalk!!!

Halloween in the BOOroughs is presented by the Cannonborough-Elliottborough Neighborhood Association (CENA) and the Cannonborough-Elliottborough Business Owners (CEBO)
Sponsored by the Tattoed Moose, Rentcharleston.com, and
Event DRS
Special Thanks to D’allesandros Pizza, Wildflour Pastry, Sugar Bakeshop, Mac and Murphy, Fuzzco, and Stems

Now, don’t be too scared of the fiercest pirate in the sea, because when Liz isn’t moonlighting as Captain Scalleywag she is the most lovable volunteer on SideWalk Chalk’s lineup. And the kids at Mitchell adore both of her personalities. Liz’s hilarious rendition of Captain Scalleywag kept the kids grinning from ear to ear, and started them on their own adventure of writing postcards to send out into the world. With the help of the 4th and 5th graders at Mitchell, Captain Scalleywag sailed away with her true love Bartholomew. Thank goodness Liz decided to stay and volunteer with SideWalk Chalk!

Why she decided to volunteer with us: I love working with kids and I love creative writing. And SideWalk Chalk is the most fortuitous combination of the two.

See what we mean? She uses words like ‘fortuitous.’ Excellent volunteer quality to have handy. 

Her favorite memory with SideWalk Chalk: The other day, one of the students, Jacques, wrote this awesome sentence and was very skeptical about showing it to me. But it was a seriously beautiful sentence. It talked about how eating pancakes tasted like golden flakes dancing on his tongue. And when he saw how sincerely impressed I was with his writing, he beamed for the rest of the hour. It lifted my soul to see how much confidence he gained from that one moment.

What she’s reading right now: The Complete Stories by David Malouf. He’s an Australian author.

It was recommended to her by a friend and she’s enjoying it so far.

We hope Liz enjoys the rest of her book as much as we have enjoyed working with her. Her dedication and positive attitude brighten Mitchell’s hallways every week and we couldn’t be more thankful.

David graduated from the college of Charleston in 2001, and we couldn’t be happier that he decided to give his talent back to the community that inspired him. David explains, “When I was in college I lived in a downtown Charleston neighborhood with a lot of poverty. The children of the neighborhood and the community’s amazing culture were the two largest factors that influenced my decision to become a teacher.”

David’s 4th graders adore him and that’s clear from the second you walk in his classroom door. There’s no doubt that the quality attention he gives to every student is reaping huge rewards for both the students and David. He says, “Everyday something wonderfully unexpected happens that gives me a greater appreciation for the beauty of life. So many blessings have given me this unique opportunity to work with Charleston’s youth. My students’ successes give me so much hope for the future and make me value the importance of community-involvement. I feel like I am a part of a gigantic family.” We’re glad he’s part of the SideWalk Chalk family too.

And what’s just another one of his favorite things about the job? “It’s pretty nice to be 33 years old and have the option to go to recess 180 days a year.” We have to agree that recess with David and his 4th graders sounds pretty great. We are so thankful for David’s hard work and dedication. We love being in his classroom every week and working with him to help Write the Future!