Meet Fast Forward Presenter >> Kevin Peter

What is your Big Idea for Philadelphia?

Helping Kids Succeed through Writing

Here’s the story. If you happen to be a kid in certain neighborhoods in Philadelphia, you are trapped. You are trapped in a school with teachers and administrators who don’t have resources or time to help you become a proficient reader or writer. You are trapped in a literature desert, with a school library that’s been closed for years and a public library subject to the city’s budget swings. In short, your chances of achieving success at school, at work and in life are extremely limited.

These are the neighborhoods, and these are the kids, Mighty Writers is all about. We build working partnerships with neighborhood organizations and embed our writing centers in neighborhoods rich in generational poverty and education under-achievement: North Philly, Mantua, South Philly, South Ninth Street. Since we launched in 2009: 100% of our high school seniors start college; SAT scores increase 200 points; kids in third through twelfth grade outscore their peers in reading and writing on report cards and standardized tests; kids identify as writers and love the process of writing.

www.mightywriters.org

Kevin Peter is Development Director at Mighty Writers, which teaches Philadelphia kids (ages 7 to 17) to think and write with clarity so they can achieve success at school, at work and in life. Started in 2009, Mighty Writers operates out of school time writing centers in South Philly, West Philly/Mantua, the South 9th Street Market, and in the Church of the Advocate in North Philly. Kevin has been Development Director at Community Legal Services and Metropolitan Career Center. He has been a consultant to youth serving and human services organizations in neighborhoods throughout Philadelphia.