Welcome to our blog series, Plot Twist! Here, we'll be sharing the stories of people in the Words Alive community — stories of change, growth, and maybe a few surprising twists! We hope that through these stories, you'll get to know our community a little better and see the power of literacy come to life. This article is part of a special edition of this series as it spotlights our incredible volunteers who have been nominated for Words Alive’s 13th Annual Volunteer Appreciation Celebration!
Image of Brian Fidler.
Our Rookie of the Year, Brian Fidler already made a big impact during his short amount of time with Words Alive! His volunteer work is grounded in his vocations as a chaplain and educator. A retired Episcopal priest, he taught and spent his chaplaincy for 38 years in Independent Day and boarding schools around the country. After coming to a school in San Diego for his last position, Brian has since resided there with his wife in retirement for 11 years.
Brian got started as an Adolescent Book Group (ABG) facilitator through his good friend and longtime Words Alive volunteer, who notified him of Words Alive’s need for volunteers to staff the program. After a quick training session in December, he began volunteering with 9th grade and 12th grade students participating in ABG at the Monarch School this past January.
In discussing his reasons for volunteering, Brain shared his belief and enjoyment in cultivating the minds and potential of young people. Missing their energy and the experience of supporting their growth after three years in retirement, he found it motivating to engage with students in the ABG program and encourage them to tackle “big ideas” through the reading and discussing books together. He explains, “Reading award-winning adolescent literature about timely social issues makes for some lively and meaningful conversation!”
Brian often finds that the impact of working with ABG student participants comes about in supporting them in the long haul. While he has witnessed a handful of ‘aha’ moments occur during group discussions, he discerned that the whole process of meeting his students’ quiet skepticism, working alongside them to find resonating themes or characters, and inviting them to draw and open up about their story-to-life connections through asking questions is what brings about meaning and change in their mindsets. He recalled a recent discussion in which one student was moved to cheer for one character’s small victory while acknowledging that another character whom she disliked at the beginning of the book had redeemed himself, even if it was only a little bit!
“Hands down, the two biggest takeaways are how worthwhile it is to invest time and patience in young people, and how reading literature that engages them can help stimulate thinking about ‘big ideas’ in their own lives!”
Brian, thank you for your service helping young people to learn and grow through reading together with Words Alive!
Book recommendations: Anger is a Gift by Mark Oshiro and Dear Martin by Nic Stone, books read by the Monarch School’s 9th grade and 12th grade students in the Adolescent Book Group program
This post was created by Gabby Villadolid, Words Alive’s Storytelling Intern! Do you love writing and have an interest in helping Words Alive create this type of content? We'd love to have you on the team! Email to learn more.