In partnership with teachers, the In-School Residency Program aims to draw out young people’s voices and help increase literacy skills through writing and performance lessons that engage them and their personal stories – inviting them to participate in an “Oral Narrative Experience.”

We offer a variety of service options ranging from a shorter residency that exposes your students to creative writing and/or spoken word performance, to a more comprehensive residency program, drawing themes from texts already being studied in class. Each year, we conduct the residencies in two rounds: Fall, to be held from September through December; and Spring, to be held from January through April.

Residency Programs enhance literacy through literary arts, in conjunction with ongoing classroom curricula. A resident poet/mentor works with teachers to develop ongoing programs that enable students to create spoken and written word projects as part of their classroom experience. Demand for Residency Programs exceeds supply. Residency Programs currently operate in San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, and Daly City in middle schools and high schools, reaching thousands of students each year. The residencies occur in four different “Chapters,” which connote different levels of service and corresponding fees.

The Chapter Program offers four packages to meet the needs of you and your students:

• The Residency Program: Youth Speaks offers 4 levels of in-school residencies for you and your students. These standard-based residences are facilitated by trained Youth Speaks Poet-Mentors who partner with you to help students engage their own personal narratives in relation to the issues and themes you are studying in the classroom. Residencies take place both during the school day and in the after-school hours. • On-Campus After-School Workshops: This year, Youth Speaks is offering workshops designed specifically for Middle and High School campuses. These workshops, which are designed both to enhance the academic day and to push artistic creativity, run 90-minutes, one day a week for ten weeks.

• On-Campus After-School Workshops: This year, Youth Speaks is offering workshops designed specifically for Middle and High School campuses. These workshops, which are designed both to enhance the academic day and to push artistic creativity, run 90-minutes, one day a week for ten weeks.

Chapter ONE (50 hours) (10 weeks, In Class + Club + After School)
• Poet Mentor-in-Residence
• 1 School Visit (assembly featuring Youth Speaks and one time workshop)
• 1 Final Presentation Featuring Residency Students (performance, publication, etc).
• 30 Classroom Hours of Youth Speaks Instruction
• 1 School Club * (10 hours of Leadership Development, School Club Meeting)
• 1 School Wide After School Workshop (10 weeks, 90 min per workshop)
• Representation and Participation in the Oakland / SF Unified School District High School Poetry Slam (Oak & SF only)

* The school club is a group of self selected youth at each host school who are interested in participating in after school workshops and organizing a project at their school, part of the Student Led Arts Movement (S.L.A.M.) initiative. The poet-mentor, along with a teacher advisor at the school, engage the students in leadership development so that the club continues after the residency.

All Chapter ONE Host Teachers are provided with subsidized tickets to bring students to one Youth Speaks Event during the year, and are asked to support the school club and After School Workshop on their school’s campus.

Chapter Two (30 hours) (10 weeks, In- Class + Club)
• Poet Mentor-in-Residence
• 1 School Visit
• 1 Final Presentation Featuring Residency Students
• 20 Classroom Hours of Youth Speaks Instruction
• 1 School Club
• Representation and Participation in the Oakland / SF Unified School District High School Poetry Slam (Oak & SF only)

All Chapter Two Host Teachers are provided with subsidized tickets to bring students to one Youth Speaks Event during the year, and are asked to support the school club and After School Workshop on their school’s campus.

Chapter Three (15 hours) (10 Weeks, After school + School Club)
• Poet Mentor-in-Residence
• 1 School – Wide Assembly
• 1 School Club *10 hours of Leadership Development (School Club Meeting)
• 1 School Wide After School Workshop (10 weeks, 90 min per workshop)

All Chapter Three Host Teachers are provided with subsidized tickets to bring students to one Youth Speaks Event during the year, and are asked to support the school club and After School Workshop on their school’s campus.

Chapter Four (5 hours) (Middle Schools) (5 weeks, In Class ONLY)
• Poet Mentor-in-Residence
• 1 School Visit
• 4 Classroom Workshops (over 4 weeks)
• 1 School Performance Featuring Students

This program, specifically designed for Middle Schools, helps introduce students to the power of poetry and spoken word. All Chapter Four Host Teachers are provided with subsidized tickets to bring students to one Youth Speaks Event during the year.