Write on Sports, Inc
Inspiring students to write by writing about sports.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Both national and local assessments of middle school students’ writing ability suggest that many students are struggling to develop the kinds of skills they will need to succeed in high school and beyond. While there are many reasons for this, several key aspects have been highlighted by research – students’ lack of motivation, their loss of confidence and a limited amount of time during the school day devoted to writing instruction.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Summer Camp
Students participate in a two-week program where they will interview athletes, journalists, and attend a sport-related event. They will write feature & fiction stories, blog, and make videos. Camp is tuition-free and lunch is provided.
Workshops
The Workshop programs are held with 2 sessions (Fall and Spring) where Camp alumni students work on projects (fiction stories, feature stories, podcasts and videos) over a 4 week period to continue to hone their skills and continue to generate journalistic work product. WoS teachers continue to engage with students over their highschool period, utilizing the WoS techniques and knowledge in their core curriculum.
Where we work
External reviews

Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Conduct an interview Key Performance Indicator: 100% of students will conduct an interview
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adolescents, Low-income people
Related Program
Summer Camp
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Key Performance Indicator: 100% of students will conduct an interview
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Write on Sports directly addresses these three issues by giving students the opportunity to write about topics of their choosing and by providing targeted instruction in small group and individualized settings that helps students finish pieces they are proud of.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
During each Write on Sports camp, students learn the basic elements of good journalism, including how to prepare for and conduct an interview, how to look for reliable and relevant background information, and how to find a clear and engaging topic for each piece. The student to teacher ratio is typically 4:1, which allows teachers to give direct and intensive support to individual students around skills and strategies for identifying and researching topics, outlining and planning pieces, and using revision to make writing clearer and stronger.
Students apply their knowledge to writing spot stories and longer feature pieces that are collected and published as each camp’s magazine. As part of the camp, students meet and interview working journalists and athletes from a variety of sports (e.g., soccer, swimming, baseball). As part of the interview process, students work on their speaking, listening and critical thinking skills. Students also write, shoot and edit their own sports related videos, giving them a chance to further develop their facility with digital resources. Rather than simply learning how to operate cameras, students work on crafting compelling digital stories with distinct perspectives.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
-
How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?
Paper surveys,
-
How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve,
-
What significant change resulted from feedback?
There was a desire to continue with WoS after the summer camp programs. WoS leaders listened and structured the Workshop program, which is tailored towards Camp Alumni
-
With whom is the organization sharing feedback?
Our staff, Our board,
-
Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
-
What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, We don’t have the right technology to collect and aggregate feedback efficiently, The people we serve tell us they find data collection burdensome,
Financials
Unlock nonprofit financial insights that will help you make more informed decisions. Try our monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights?
Learn more
about GuideStar Pro.
Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Write on Sports, Inc
Board of directorsas of 01/23/2023
John D. Goldsmith
Steven Beck
Rose Cali
Peter Fastovsky
Dev Gandhi
Peter King
Jenny Vrentas
Byron Yake
MaryEllen Salamone
Steven Magee
Francis Astorino
Laxmi Kambhampati
John Goldsmith
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
-
Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as: