Overview: Founded by Sonia Montalvo in 2019, The Girls Are Alwrite aims to provide support to Black students in the Charlottesville area who struggle with academic writing standards by creating and implementing accessible creative writing workshops for free. The goal is to offer additional learning opportunities that teach students writing practices through the art of creative writing. It seeks to deviate from traditional item teaching to encourage and assist students in becoming better writers. To combat the lack of authentic writing opportunities for students within the schools, the team created a culturally responsive alternative curriculum to push for equitable academic success for Black students.
This curriculum incorporates work and literature that exposes students to culturally relevant issues, practices that will tap into their creative processes, and exposes them to alternative methods of best writing practices.
In 2020, the second annual summer camp was hosted virtually. Rising 6th - 12th grade Black and Latinx girls joined Camp Coaches Sonia Montalvo, V the Writer, Tessa Thompson, and Brande Mccleese as they engaged in and created poetry, fiction, and nonfiction pieces.
The 2021 summer camp culminated in a takeover of Vinegar Hill Magazine.
