Staff
Development Director: Prior to joining Mighty Writers, MAGGIE LEYMAN was a grant writer at Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia. She has a degree in English and Global Media Studies from the University of Michigan.
email: mleyman@mightywriters.org
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SAT Prep Developer: ANDY ISOM, SAT Prep instructor since the summer of 2011, has consistently helped MW students raise their scores 200 points or more, utilizing an SAT curriculum designed specifically for MW students. Isom taught test preparation tips and tools while in graduate school and has taught middle and high school math in Philadelphia since 2005.
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Program Director: RACHEL LOEPER is an educator who has taught creative writing, English as a second language and early literacy. She received her BA in English Literature from Goucher College, where she served as a peer tutor, and her MFA in creative writing from Hollins University, where she received a fellowship to teach fiction and poetry. Most recently, she served as director of a remedial literacy program at Universal Institute Charter School.
email: rloeper@mightywriters.org
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Youth Coordinator: JAMES OWK received his degree in World History from Temple University. Since Fall 2011, Owk has been supervising middle school writers in the afterschool program and leading the weekly Teen Scholars program.
email: jowk@mightywriters.org
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Executive Director: TIM WHITAKER began his career teaching fifth and sixth grade in Philadelphia before becoming a writer and editor. He was the editor of Philadelphia Weekly (1994—2008), and previously the editor of PhillySport and Pittsburgh magazines. Whitaker was a writer at NBC Radio and has written for The New York Times, Washington Post and Philadelphia Inquirer. He is also the author of “Crash: The Life and Times of Dick Allen.”
email: twhitaker@mightywriters.org
