Resources:
Rylee Barnsdale's Feature Article: Ypsi org creates resources for "Engaging With Democracy Through Writing"
YpsiWrites 5th Birthday Celebration
Transcription:
Rylee Barnsdale: You're listening to 89 one WEMU. I'm Rylee Barnsdale, and this is On the Ground Ypsi. When local nonprofit YpsiWrites is not hosting their drop-in workshops for local writers of all skill levels to hone their craft and connect with other area writers, they're looking for new and unique ways to engage the community on the topics that matter most to them. This fall, writers and community members can join YpsiWrites in examining what exactly democracy means to them. I have YpsiWrites programs and partnerships director Kristine Gatchel with me today to talk us through what this new initiative looks like and what folks in the community can look forward to from it. Hi, Kristine! Thanks so much for being here!
Kristine Gatchel: Thanks, Rylee!
Rylee Barnsdale: So, I'd love to start with just an overview of what this new "Engaging with Democracy through Writing" project is, because when I hear that string of words all together, I think of writing to local politicians or getting involved politically with what's going on right in your backyard. But I'm curious about how YpsiWrites has interpreted this idea of engaging with democracy.
Kristine Gatchel: Yeah. I think that the items that you mentioned seem to be what people would gravitate towards about writing about democracy. But we wanted to take a step back and think about what democracy actually means and how it shows up in our community. And we wanted to think about how to engage a multigenerational audience in these questions about democracy. So, this project started with funding from the Upshur Grant here at Eastern. And we really wanted to focus on how democracy might be interpreted and used in classrooms K through 12, but then how also we could bring those materials to the greater community in Ypsi and have them use it to and writing in various ways. So, not necessarily words in a row writing all ways, but maybe multimodal writing. So, everything from when you observe something, how do you collect those reflections and observe on the community that you're a part of and how does that have to do with democracy to how do you interview somebody and make sure that you know who they are and what you're gathering and how does that impact the way that you see community and democracy then in action in those community members taking part in a democratic community, too.
Rylee Barnsdale: I know YpsiWrites is always connecting with community members to figure out how to best serve the community with programming and events like this. How did you all come to the decision to build this program this year? You know, I'm sure that a major election coming up maybe has something to do with it. But I'm curious about what the folks you were working with kind of said and what their ideas were like as well.
Kristine Gatchel: Yes, absolutely! So, last year, YpsiWrites actually did a community scan where we went out and talked to our patrons and also people that hadn't interacted with YpsiWrites before to find out what they were interested in doing and what kind of programing could we bring to them that would meet their needs. And we definitely kept hearing this conversation about democracy, especially, as you mentioned, related to the election this year. However, YpsiWrites wants to remain a nonpartisan entity, so we didn't directly want to get involved with the election. And democracy takes place in our country year-round, no matter if there's an election or not. So, this seemed to be a way people are more tapped into this conversation right now. So, we were able to connect with that idea, but also veer it away from being a directly political message and how democracy impacts us beyond what's going on directly at one time.
Rylee Barnsdale: And I know YpsiWrites has this real dedication to community building, to providing these safe and open spaces for writers to convene and improve, using writing as a tool to make a difference in their own lives or the lives of others. How does exploring this topic of democracy kind of fit into those pillars that your organization is built on?
Kristine Gatchel: Yes. So, YpsiWrites definitely has four pillars that we are always looking to bring into the work that we are doing. So, inclusivity, advocacy, support and community are the four pillars that YpsiWrites was founded on. And this project definitely taps into all of those in different ways and are responding to things that the community has said that it would like to see and also, as you mentioned, creating a safe space for those conversations to happen. We also want people to connect with each other. So, one thing that we have--hopefully, a long-term goal for this project--is being able to share and collect some of the writing that people are creating and having others be able to see how democracy, what it means to perhaps a second grader as opposed to somebody that has been in this community for a long time that perhaps has a little bit of a different take on it as well.
Rylee Barnsdale: This is WEMU's On the Ground Ypsi. I'm Rylee Barnsdale, talking with Kristine Gatchel of YpsiWrites. Kristine, how are you and the YpsiWrites team developing the resources and materials for this project? I mean, how do you narrow down a topic as broad as democracy into writing prompts or discussion topics and things like that?
Kristine Gatchel: Great question! So, we rely on our community. So, this project, we put out a call for people that would be interested in working on the teams that created this material. This has been the way that YpsiWrites has gone about creating materials in the past is to put out a call to our patrons and say, "Hey, we're putting this together! We know that you're way smarter than we are! So, we want to bring you in and have you be part of this conversation!" And this call went out to patrons that have worked with us before. We have students on the team. We have teachers on the team. Because one thing that was really important was meeting with the K-12 standards for both social studies and ELA standards. So, we brought teachers in. We've brought past writers of Ypsi, which is a program that YpsiWrites has. So, we've collected all of those different voices. And honestly, what we did was gave them kind of an overview of what we're hoping for and then said, "Go to it!" And we had these three separate teams that created these materials that look very different. So, we have a team that's really interrogating this idea of community and democracy. We have a team that's looking at "Are we really a democracy? And what does that mean to be a democracy?" And then, we have another team that is hoping to look at how we all contribute to making sure that our democracy runs smoothly and what we can do to ensure that it continues to run smoothly. So, we basically gave it to our community members and said, "Figure out how to do this and let's come back and talk about it." And so, we've been in conversation with all of those teams as they've created their materials, but really are trusting that they have a really good idea of what they would like to see and also, like I said, the different specialty areas that they're bringing in and creating these materials as well then.
Rylee Barnsdale: Has there been anything in those conversations that has surprised you about what these conversations have looked like or how the materials are coming together?
Kristine Gatchel: What surprised me is how enthusiastic everyone is. I mean, I hoped that that would be the case. But in terms of the amount of enthusiasm and also how thoughtful they are in creating these materials and thinking about adjusting them for the multigenerational audience, right? Yes, we definitely have a focus on the K-12 population and being these being able to be used in an educational setting. But we're also really thinking about how they might reach the wider community. And so, it surprised me that they're able to take what they're thinking about and adjust it to all these different ages of writers in the community as well.
Rylee Barnsdale: This is WEMU's On the Ground Ypsi. I'm talking with YpsiWrites programs and partnerships director Kristine Gatchel. Kristine, obviously having these conversations with the writers that you're working with in these teams has impacted the way that you are viewing democracy in the way that you are approaching it in maybe your own personal writing?
Kristine Gatchel: I mean, absolutely. I think that just the way that these teams came together and thinking about the democratic process around that and how we're all working together, it's really made me take a step back and think about a role as a leader, but also as somebody that is just allowing this to kind of progress naturally without feeling like I need to get my hands involved in all of it. We've really had an opportunity to trust the community here to create materials that, yes, they're going to have the YpsiWrites name on them, but we know that they're founded on those four pillars and that they will be reflective of what YpsiWrites believes without us having to create them--really trusting the community that they're coming from.
Rylee Barnsdale: Is there the idea or hope that this is a program that will continue on after this year? I mean, you mentioned, too, we talked about how democracy is something that's always kind of going on, something that we're all always experiencing, or the concept of it at least. Is this something that you can bring that maybe a teacher can use next year and maybe or in another four years and maybe just what the prompts are or what these materials look like? Is that something that you've thought of?
Kristine Gatchel: I hope so. I think that the way that the teams have created the materials, they are not set in one moment in time. They're very fluid. They could be adapted. And that's another great component of them is that they start as suggestion points and maybe teachers take them in a different direction. We're also going to attach a feedback survey with these. So, we want to gather material and feedback from our community to know how they use the materials, what other changes and suggestions they might have, so that if we put out other versions of these, that they might continue to evolve in ways that really reflect the way that the community that's using them views democracy and be a continued source to engage with that topic then.
Rylee Barnsdale: Now, I love to wrap things up here by letting folks know when and where they can get involved with the initiative. When can we expect to see these resources become available? And where can we find them?
Kristine Gatchel: Yeah! I'm really excited to announce that we're going to kind of kick off this program at YpsiWrites' fifth birthday party, which is October 26th, from 1 to 4 PM at YDL-Whittaker. We're going to have a birthday party to celebrate the fact that YpsiWrites has been around for the Ypsi community for five years now. We're going to have an open mic session that we invite people to submit a piece for to read there. But we're also going to actually have the first set of materials available at that birthday party for community members to come and engage with. They'll also be available on our website in the next month or so, so that anyone can get their hands on them. We also plan to have them at the various libraries. Teachers can write and request copies for their classrooms. So, hopefully, here in the next few weeks, they'll be out and about for anybody that would like to use them.
Rylee Barnsdale: Well, thank you so much for being here, Kristine! This initiative is, as we mentioned, pretty topical right now, but topical all the time as well. And I really hope that the community is able to really take advantage of what YpsiWrites has to offer this go-around and later initiatives as well. I know you guys are very busy!
Kristine Gatchel: Non-stop!
Rylee Barnsdale: For more information on today's topic and links to the full article, visit our website at wemu.org. On the Ground Ypsi is brought to you in partnership with Concentrate Media. I'm Rylee Barnsdale, and this is your community NPR station, 89 one WEMU FM Ypsilanti.
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