As a high school student, amandascgorman learned from her writegirlla mentors “that being a young female writer is an act of voice—loud, courageous, compassionate, and that [her] words shouldn't be written on a page just to stay there.” Seven years later, at 22 years old, Amanda became the nation’s youngest inaugural poet. ⁣ ⁣ Amanda and other young women credit WriteGirl, a Los Angeles-based after-school program, with inspiring them to develop their voices as creative writers—skills that can boost their academic writing and confidence in the classroom, according to Rebecca Alber, a college professor who trains teachers. ⁣ ⁣ So what’s the “secret sauce” from WriteGirl? Here are some insights from Amanda and her fellow WriteGirl alumni.⁣ ⁣ 📢 Speak Up: Growing up with dyslexia, Emily doubted her words and her writing. “Society taught me my voice was unimportant because I was a girl and my learning disability taught me to silence that voice completely,” writes Emily. “It wasn’t until I j...