It's the 15th anniversary of Page 15.
It's a milestone year for the Orlando youth literacy nonprofit (15!), so next month's benefit event will likely be – ahem – one for the books. It’s an 1980s mixtape-themed benefit celebration at the Cheyenne Saloon downtown, with 80s attire encouraged.
Page 15’s Executive Director and founder Julia Young and Program Director Paul Driscoll say they're excited to continue empowering kids to write their own stories, and are ready for the “totally tubular” event.
Julia Young:
This is our 10th annual mixtape benefit concert. And all of the proceeds will support Page 15's literary arts and empowerment programs.
Nicole Darden Creston:
Literary arts and empowerment programs, I would like to get to all of those, but this is an extra special annual celebration, right?
Julia Young:
It is! Page 15 is celebrating our 15th anniversary. So obviously 15 is in our name, we love the number 15. It's our 15th anniversary, we were founded in 2008 in downtown Orlando, and we are still here and thriving. And then it is also our 10th annual benefit concert. So, two milestones this year.
Paul Driscoll:
We basically create safe spaces for creative expression, and then rehearse that expression again and again and again, until we have that somewhat mastered, or at least we find ourselves feeling really confident with our ability to command the language.
Nicole Darden Creston:
What does that entail? What does that break down into?
Paul Driscoll:
Well, we try to make it accessible, so everything we do is intentionally simple and approachable. Obviously, as a creative being, there's the process. And so we're very much rooted in the creative writing process. And then there's the authenticity of the writing, which is where it comes from. And that's the humanity of the whole thing. And I think that's kind of our little secret to the whole thing is to motivate kids by giving them permission to express themselves and to explore ideas that they already have kind of rolling around in their lives and in their minds on their hearts. And so we create a space that allows them to do that. And then by having choice, they're much more motivated and excited about the content they're creating. So they're in a sense, really writing for the first time, you know, because they're motivated to say something or to communicate an idea not just to score well at school, or because you're fearful of not performing well, on an exam. It's just because I have something I want to express. And this is the way I'd like to try to express that. And so we basically facilitate that creative expression and just create space for them to do it, and then create a community around that. And so that's a big part of it, as well as building a community that supports one another and treats one another with respect and dignity, obviously.
Nicole Darden Creston:
Julia, why did you decide to found Page 15?
Julia Young:
I loved reading myself, writing was not always easy. But I also just really loved the idea of providing a space and the environment for kids to really connect with their authentic voice. So Page 15 operates in school, we operate after school, we have a young writer summer camp program, each and every year, we have an after school club, we publish two books every single year. So really providing kids the opportunities to approach language arts in an authentic and creative way. And so that was really the motivation to start the program.
Nicole Darden Creston:
Do you work to reach out to underserved communities?
Paul Driscoll:
That's where our heart is, actually. So, thank you for asking that question. We were born in downtown Orlando, Julie and I are both Orlando to the bone. And so the city and community more broadly is really important to us. And so yeah, we are serving in as many communities as we can, but don't necessarily have the resources they need or deserve, but are rich with talent. And so our primary community is downtown Orlando and the Parramore neighborhood, which most people who are Orlandoans are familiar with historically black neighborhood, really incredible community filled with enormous amount of talent, they are limited in their resources. And sometimes the pressures and challenges of poverty. And those types of things, as we all know, can have a negative impact. And so we try to create a safe space that allows for young people to also have a positive impact in their life. And so whatever adversity they may have faced or will face they may be resilient or more resilient to as a result of participating in our programs and building their own personal confidence. And so we really like to get into communities where maybe that is not necessarily lacking but could use a boost because again, these communities are so much talent and so many great human beings working really hard in them. And just a little bit of the pleasure and privilege to see some of that talent emerge out of these settings.
Nicole Darden Creston:
So tell me about the number 15.
Julia Young:
Fifteen is, of course, our favorite number. When I was growing up, my grandmother had a rule. She was a big reader, she would sit in her little armchair and read book after book after book and would watch me read a couple pages of a book and toss it aside. So she had a rule of thumb that she passed on to me that you read to page 15 before giving up on a book. It was kind of one of those rules that a grandmother or somebody in your life shares with you that kind of sticks. And so when we were naming the organization 15 years ago, that was kind of what bubbled up to the surface. And it's amazing how many people connected with it when I mentioned that story of my grandmother, and then often how many times I'm out in the community, and people have heard of the name and have the rule Page 15 before they’ve even met me or been introduced to the organization. So we're really proud of a name that really has a history and has a story to it.
Paul Driscoll:
Everything's in 15s. So this is our 15th anniversary, obviously. And then also, when we publish our high school anthology, we always select out of the hundreds of submissions, we select the 15 that we think best represents Central Florida and local community. So 15 is our deal.
