News on the Committee: 05.21.10 | Eleven writer and actor mentors went to P.S. 16, an elementary school in Corona, Queens, as part of their ongoing participation in PencilPALS (Performing Artists for Literacy in Schools). Read More
05.14.10 | The Actors and Writers Book Club held an event at Mount Lebanon High School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Actor William Baldwin read a selection from John Steinbeck's "East Of Eden" to two sessions of one hundred students each. After the reading, Baldwin and filmmaker/writer Susanna Styron discussed the novel and then took questions about the creative process. Read More.
11.16.09 | Actress Katherine Erbe (Law & Order: Criminal Intent) and author/writer Tom Kelly (Payback, The Rackets, Empire Rising) visited Watertown High School to launch the inaugural “Actors and Writers Book Club.”Read More
The Actors and Writers Book Club
In conjunction with the National Endowment for the Arts Big Read Program, the WGAE Foundation’s Actors and Writers Book Club brings a high-profile actor and writer into high schools to read and discuss works of literature, with the mission of getting students excited about reading, writing, story telling and the importance of language skills. The program targets under-served areas in the country. Watertown, NY was selected for the inaugural Book Club school district.
PencilPALS
Founded by the SAG foundation, this program is a letter exchange program between creative people and students, geared towards inspiring a love of reading and writing in fourth graders. PencilPALS began its work with PS 255 in Brooklyn last year, and is currently working with fifth graders at P.S. 16 in Corona, Queens.
