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.
Meet Elise Goldwasser, one of our youngest volunteers ever! Elise is 11 years old and in 5th grade. She lives in Northern California and loves to read, play the guitar, draw and dance. Recently, she joined us as a volunteer fundraiser for our Champions for Youth campaign. We talked to Elise about her experience with Words Alive and why everyone should volunteer, no matter how old they are!
Elise decided to start volunteering during the pandemic. “I was bored during quarantine,” she says, “and I just wanted to do something to help other people, particularly kids.” She first heard of Words Alive from her sister’s teacher, who shared an opportunity to record read aloud videos through our Kids Reading to Kids project. Because of changes in publisher permissions, Elise wasn’t able to record a video, but she was still committed to making an impact with Words Alive. She signed up to host a fundraising page for us during our 2020 Champions for Youth Campaign and raised $130 to support our mission!
One reason Elise wanted to get involved with Words Alive is that reading is one of her passions. She loves too many books to pick a favorite, but one that she enjoyed recently is One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia.
She also knows that it’s important for kids to learn how to read. “It just helps them be successful in life, because it helps them in school—even math, with word problems and things,” she says. “It gets them into a good college and helps them get a job.”
What does Elise have to say to kids who don't like reading? “They haven’t found the right book!” Through her work with Words Alive, she wants to help other kids to discover the power of reading and learn to love books like she does.
Elise cares about giving back to her community in other ways, too. It wasn’t always easy to find volunteer opportunities that accepted kids, but she didn’t let that stop her. She volunteered with Resistance Labs (now Movement Labs) as a text banker for the 2020 presidential election and the Senate runoffs in Georgia, helping people get resources to vote. She also works with another organization, By Kids for Kids, to help younger children with reading.
“You feel like you’re making a difference, and that’s really cool. I didn’t really know I had the power to do that before.”
All of this volunteering has been an empowering experience for Elise. “It’s definitely exciting, because you feel like you’re making a difference, and that’s really cool,” she says. “I didn’t really know I had the power to do that before.” She hopes that more kids will be able to try volunteering. “It gives them that responsibility and just learning about helping people from a young age,” she says.
And, as a challenge to kids and adults alike, she says, “There’s no reason they can’t [volunteer]! You should just do it because you can find something with a lot of work, or not that much.” If you want to give back, but aren’t sure where to start, Elise says, “Volunteer for something you’re passionate about, because that will be more fun for you. And for kids, take advantage of the places you can volunteer, because for me, there weren’t that many.”
In the future, she says, “I hope that Words Alive just continues to do what they do and help kids learn how to read and find a love for reading.” Elise hopes to do more work with Words Alive when she’s older! And in the meantime, she hopes that even more organizations will open their doors to kids who want to help.
“People should be more accepting of kids and not make everything ‘only adults,’ because kids can do a lot of things too!”
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We couldn’t agree more. Elise, thank you for showing kids—and adults—what’s possible when we use our passions to serve our communities.
This post was created by Zoe Wong, a Words Alive volunteer! 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.