VOA慢速英语:Program Helps Students Express Themselves with Creative Writing

826 is the name of a noNPRofit organization that works to help students become better writers by thinking creatively. 826 is also the address of the first center where this literary arts program began in two thousand two.
826是一个非营利性机构的名称。该机构通过创造性思维帮助学生们成为更好的作家。826也是该文艺项目在2002年开设第一个中心的地址。

Author Dave Eggars and educator Ninive Calegari started the program in California at 826 Valencia Street in San Francisco. It now serves thirty thousand students through writing and tutoring centers in eight American cities.
作家Dave Eggars和教育学家Ninive Calegari在加利福尼亚州旧金山市的瓦伦西亚街826号启动了该项目。该中心目前通过在美国8个城市中的写作和家教中心服务于3万学生。

Eight twenty-six Valencia Street is a fun place for students and visitors. At the front is a pirate supply store. Think of the kind of place where Captain Jack Sparrow from "Pirates of the Caribbean" might shop.
瓦伦西亚街826号对于学生和访客来说是个有趣的地方。它的前面是一个海盗用品店。想象下那里是电影《加勒比海盗》中的杰克船长可能来购物的地方。

Leigh Lehman is the executive director. She says the idea of entering through a pirate store is meant to get students not to think of the place as an education center.
Leigh Lehman是该组织的执行董事。她说，通过海盗商店进入该中心的想法是为了不让学生觉得这里像一个教育中心。

LEIGH LEHMAN: "'This is not school; this is not a tutoring center. This is a place for me to be myself and to find my voice and find my creativity and excel.'"
LEIGH LEHMAN: "'这不是学校；这里不是辅导中心。这是一个忠于自我，倾听内心声音，发现自我创造力和超越的地方"

The goal is to help public school students between six and eighteen years old write creatively. During the day, teachers bring classes on field trips and volunteers help with writing projects.
我们的目标是帮助公立学校里6到18岁的儿童培养创造性的写作能力。在那天，老师带来了实地考察的课程，而志愿者则在写作项目上帮助学生。

After school, students come for help with creative writing and their schoolwork -- yes, it is a tutoring center. Eight twenty-six Valencia is located in a mostly Latino neighborhood. Ms. Lehman says many of the children are from immigrant families.
放学后，学生们来这里寻求创作和功课上的帮助。是的，这是一个辅导中心。瓦伦西亚街826号位于一个以拉美裔为主的社区。Lehman女士称，许多孩子来自移民家庭。

LEIGH LEHMAN: "A lot of the parents don't speak English as a first language so it's harder for them to help their children with school work. So we're trying to provide the services that parents wouldn't otherwise be able to offer their kids for free."
LEIGH LEHMAN：“许多家长的母语并非英语，所以对他们来说，帮助他们的孩子完成功课就更加困难了。所以，我们正努力向他们的孩子提供这种家长做不到的免费服务。”

Each 826 center around the country has a different theme -- from a pirate store in San Francisco to a store for "spies" in Chicago.
全国每个826中心都有不同的主题--从旧金山的海盗商店到芝加哥的间谍商店。

The national chief executive, Gerald Richards, says budget cuts in public schools mean less money for arts education. And as that goes away, he says, so does the ability for students to use their imagination.
全国首席执行官Gerald Richards称，公立学校的预算削减意味着在文艺教育上投入的资金更少，而随之一起消失的，他说，就是学生们的想象力。

GERALD RICHARDS: "I think there is much more of a focus on science, technology, engineering and math. There's a lot of a focus on testing and a lot of the teaching that's going on in schools is focusing on the test and passing the test rather than thinking about how do we get kids to think."
GERALD RICHARDS：“我觉得对于科学、技术、工程和数学已有太多的关注。学校更关注测试，而许多教学也侧重于考试，而关注的则是考试通过而不是考虑如何让孩子们思考。”

Mr. Richards points out that thinking creatively is also important in the sciences. And knowing how to write well will help students get to college and beyond.
Richards先生指出，创造性思维在科学领域也很重要。知道如何写好作文将帮助学生进入大学或更高领域。

GERALD RICHARDS: "For jobs and employers and just any, really every subject, it's the ability to communicate well really does open a lot of doors."
GERALD RICHARDS：“对于工作，雇主以及任何一方，及所有科目，良好的沟通能力确实会打开了很多扇门。”

Leigh Lehman says 826 builds confidence. Students can publish and sell their work at places like the pirate supply store and on the Internet. In twenty-ten, the programs across the country published nine hundred forty-four volumes of student writing. Ms. Lehman says students are proud when their writing gets published.
Leigh Lehman称826树立了信心，学生们可以在海盗用品商店和互联网上发布和出售他们的作品。在2010年，该项目在全国各地共发表了944卷学生作品。Lehman女士说，当学生们的作品被发布时，他们会感到很自豪。
One of the students in San Francisco is Sofia Marquez.
Sofia Marquez是旧金山学生中的一名。

SOFIA MARQUEZ: "I get to use my imagination -- that's why I like writing."
SOFIA MARQUEZ: “我可以发挥自己的想象力，这就是为什么我喜欢写作的原因。”