NEW ORLEANS– The power of a pen and paper! That’s what a local organization in the 7th Ward is teaching kids while in quarantine.

WGNO’s Kenny Lopez tells us about a new writing project at 826 New Orleans.

826 New Orleans is a publishing and writing organization which is encouraging kids to write.

“We help them with their writing and then we turn them into published authors by publishing books of their work,” Brooke Pickett, Executive Director of 826 New Orleans said.

“Writing on the Wall” is a new writing activity and project that 826 New Orleans started for kids in quarantine.

“With the help of lovely volunteers we deliver writing supplies with a huge sticky note pad to kids from Marrero to Pearl River,” she said.

Then every Friday in the month of May the kids are asked to publish their writings on the wall outside their houses.

“They publish them on their front porch, front stoop, and their front door. Last Friday was Flashback Friday so we asked the kids to reflect on a memory they had from before Covid-19,” she said.

In this digital age and with not all the kids having access to computers, this is something they all can do.

“We think it’s really important to have the time and space with a marker and a huge pad of paper to reflect. We wanted our students to keep writing and to keep thinking in a way that doesn’t require a computer,” Pickett said.

Eventually all the children’s writings will be turned into a book.