• Pirate Supply Store
• 826 Valencia in San Francisco
• Dave Eggers
• Teachers Have It Easy
• Michael Chabon
• Stephen King
• Daniel Handler
• Illustrator Keith Knight
• Jennifer Traig
• 826 New York
• 826 Chicago
• 826 Seattle
• 826 Ann Arbor
• 826 Los Angeles
• International Talk Like A Pirate Day

Aye (O, U and Sometimes Y), Matey

What do pirates have in common with tutors?

Tutor Jennifer Traig owns eye patches in a wide array of colors.

Turns out, they frequent the same place.

Just head to Valencia Street in San Francisco's Mission District and you'll find a Pirate Supply Store, where glass eyes are for sale, as are custom-made peg legs, and messages in bottles. But peek in the back of the store and you'll find a passel of children with heads cocked over books. Beside them, you'll see adults whispering words of encouragement.

What is this odd place you've happened upon?

It's called 826 Valencia, and it's a writing center for kids - the 2002 brainchild of writer Dave Eggers and his friend, teacher Ninive Calegari. Their goal was to create a spot where professional writers could share their talents with children.

So what's the deal with the pirate store? The area was zoned for commercial use, so Eggers and Calegari came up with an idea for a storefront that seemed like it'd be welcoming to children and wouldn't scream the uncool words "tutoring center."

The idea caught on, and local writers flocked to volunteer. Michael Chabon, Stephen King, and Daniel "Lemony Snickett" Handler are among the luminaries who've taught workshops to kids; often these clinics involve writing an entire book in a few hours, complete with drawings by local illustrators like Keith Knight.

"The books the kids write are always really wacky," says one of the place's tutors, writer Jennifer Traig. "The stories are about like, mutant alligators with Mohawk hair and buckets for legs."

At the center's Brooklyn, NY branch, pupils hide behind a superhero supply store that sells capes and antimatter. In Chicago, the tutors and kids are currently building a spy store, and in Seattle, there's a shop for anyone planning a trip to outer space. There are also offshoots in Ann Arbor and Los Angeles.

Do the storefronts affect the activities in the hidden-away classrooms? Absolutely. In the San Francisco location, "we observe International Talk Like A Pirate Day," says Traig, who owns eye patches in an array of colors. They generally get left at home, however. "Because tutoring with it on is kind of hard."

Posted on March 06, 2006