In the summer of 2010, I registered my ten-year-old son for a writing workshop at 826michigan. Trouble was, he didn’t want to go. Writing outside school hours? Not going to happen.

Executive director Amanda Uhle says she’s seen plenty of “reluctant writers” at the nonprofit tutoring and writing center. “Kids come with a set of expectations about writing, and we help remove the stigma about it being hard or boring,” she says. “We make it fun.”

Uhle says 826 works “with kids who excel, but especially with those who struggle.” It offers one-on-one tutoring, supports teachers through in-school residencies, hosts classroom field trips at the center, visits libraries and community centers, and hosts workshops—all for free. Best-selling author Dave Eggers co-founded the organization in 2002 at 826 Valencia Street in San Francisco; 826michigan followed in 2005.

When my son Adam and I arrived for that first workshop, I bought him a wind-up robot toy at the Liberty Street Robot Supply & Repair out front, and he agreed to try the workshop in the back room. He made a vacation diorama out of a shoebox with art supplies from FLY Children’s Art Center—one of 826’s many community partners. Then he wrote a postcard from his imaginary vacation destination.

This summer, no toy bribes are necessary. FLY is back for drop-in workshops all summer and Adam is sold. Each week I sink into one of the old gold-colored couches (parents are welcome to stay) and Adam joins a table of kids. One week Adam creates a homemade book, another time the kids team up to make sock puppets and the puppets perform their original scripts for the group. Adam especially enjoys the afternoon he creates his own kingdom, with its own ruler and rules. It’s called Spud Land, where “mashing other potatoes” is prohibited.

Week after week, Adam seeks out volunteer Sue Iott and sits at her table. Iott says she volunteered in the schools when her daughter was young and she noticed how one-on-one attention can boost a child’s learning. “When they start clicking, when you see them gain a sense of competence, that’s the best,” she says.

One afternoon the kids write a diamante poem—a seven line kite-shaped poem—and decorate a kite to go with it. Poem topics are diverse: Blue cheese. Politicians. Dogs. When a volunteer asks who’d like to read their poem, Adam stands in front of the dozen kids and shares his writing for the first time. They applaud and he grins widely.

Later, kids bring their handcrafted poem-kites outside onto the hot, steamy downtown sidewalk and try to get them airborne. It doesn’t matter that there’s no wind on this day. Iott runs up and down the sidewalk with the kids, urging them to hold their kites in the air, and they find a way to make them fly.