Welcome to the Words Alive Reader, our newsletter keeping you up-to-date with the latest in how we’ve been connecting children, teens, and families to the power of reading. What have we been up to and how can you help? Read on to find out!
Welcome Families!
This week we welcome 292 families, and their 364 children, to Let's Read with Words Alive, our family literacy program!
Each week families participate in a 45-minute virtual session, in English or Spanish, reading a story and completing a craft together. Between sessions for the next six weeks, parents will receive SMS-based support from volunteers to encourage at-home reading with their new books.
Teachers at Harriet Tubman Village Charter School sharing Let's Read with Words Alive books.
Through this wave, we are excited to offer parallel tracks for families with preschoolers and those with school-age students (TK-2) through partnerships with:
Diamond Educational Excellence Partnership
Edison Elementary
Freese Elementary
Harriet Tubman Village Charter School
Neighborhood House Association
Rolando Park Elementary
We are deeply grateful to the Dr. Seuss Foundation and Conrad Prebys Foundation for their leadership in helping us transform our family programming this year!
Thank you S. Mark Taper Foundation!
We are so grateful to the S. Mark Taper Foundation for making an incredible $35,000 investment in Words Alive!
The S. Mark Taper Foundation, founded in 1989, is a private family foundation dedicated to enhancing the quality of people’s lives by supporting nonprofit organizations and their work in our communities.
Unrestricted support, like this, enables us to invest in our incredible staff, develop new connections with community agencies, and build our capacity to reach more children, teens, and families. Thank you, S. Mark Taper Foundation!
Welcome Board Members!
Please join us in welcoming Meredith Baratz and Laura Galinson to the Words Alive Board of Directors!
We look forward to their wealth of expertise and leadership to foster Words Alive's growth. You can learn more about Meredith and Laura, as well as the rest of our Board members, here.
If you're interested in serving on our Board of Directors or supporting one of our many committees providing professional guidance to the organization, please reach out to Rachael Orose to start a conversation.
Read Aloud Volunteers Needed
Help children learn to become a reader by volunteering today!
Each week, teachers and principals ask how Words Alive volunteers might read aloud with their students. If you are excited about reading remarkable stories aloud with classrooms of children (TK-3rd grade) and can commit to read for one hour a week through May, we have a spot for you!
We have virtual and in-person openings for readers at schools in central and southeast San Diego.
Our best Read Aloud volunteers are excited, engaging, and love sharing stories. No prior experience is necessary! Volunteers bilingual in Spanish and English are in high demand.
We host weekly, virtual volunteer orientations where you can learn more. You can also email us for more details.
This newsletter, in addition to our blog and social media content, is written by us, a cohort of staff and volunteers! Do you love writing and have an interest in helping Words Alive create this type of content? We'd love your help! Email to learn more.