Congrats to our President's Volunteer Service Award Winners!

In 2003, the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation founded the President’s Volunteer Service Award to recognize the important role of volunteers in America’s strength and national identity. This award honors individuals whose service positively impacts communities in every corner of the nation and inspires those around them to take action too.

This Award honors the volunteers who are using their time and talents to solve some of the toughest challenges facing our nation.  Now, more than ever, literacy is one of the toughest challenges facing our nation.  Pared with learning to read, making true, meaningful connections to text is the key to unlocking the power of reading. 

This year, we are honored to celebrate 6 volunteers who are making these meaningful connections happen. Feel free to watch the video of our ceremony for these incredible volunteers, as well as read more about each of them, below!

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Anika Mehra is being awarded the Bronze Award in recognition of 103 hours supporting our Page Turners program. At last count, Anika has reviewed 24 books for our Page Turners program from her home in the Bay Area. Thanks to her thoughtful reviews, six of the titles have already been selected and added to Words Alive’s curriculum. As an example about how thoughtful Anika is she wrote this about the novel Stef Soto: Taco Queen by Jennifer Torres:

“This book inspired me to think deeply about real-world issues, such as how many immigrants who come to the US constantly have to face an uphill battle since they are not only in a new country, likely learning a new language and culture, but also having to face different social, emotional, and even economic barriers.”

Caleb Samson is being awarded the Bronze Award in recognition of 107 hours supporting the development of Words Alive’s curriculum in 2020. Caleb joined the Words Alive team as a curriculum writer and displayed a real talent for creating quality guides for both teachers and families. Every question or prompt he creates is thoughtful, purposeful, and fun – all of which is so important to our programming. He is excellent at writing curriculum for all ages – teens and toddlers alike, which is quite a skill!  As an example, Caleb wrote curriculum so Words Alive could integrate Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay into our curriculum.  The book, a National Book Award Finalist, was released less than a year ago.

Zoe Wong is being awarded the Bronze Award in recognition of 160 hours supporting Words Alive in better telling our story. Zoe started volunteering for us early in the pandemic to support our social media work. She had great ideas to contribute at our monthly social media strategy meetings and never hesitated to take initiative on those ideas and propel our online content forward. Zoe took on additional responsibilities to help us tell our story by connecting the Words Alive community in a virtual world.  She has interviewed over a dozen members of the Words Alive community capturing and sharing their stories in video, blog posts, and through social media.  In addition, Zoe leads a group of more than 10 volunteers to tell Words Alive stories through our blog and newsletters.

Teoman Yazar is being awarded the Bronze Award in recognition of 70 hours supporting our Page Turners program. At age 11, Teoman is our youngest volunteer being recognized with this award.  We are so inspired by how committed he is to connecting other youth with the power of reading. Teoman has read 976 pages for Page Turners including The Whispers by Greg Howard, The Voting Booth by Brandy Colbert, The Wave by Todd Strasser, and The First Rule of Punk by Celia Perez. After reading The Whispers, Teoman shared that:

“[the book] taught me to think about what has happened and not just ignore everything bad that happens.”

Noshin Akhtar, is being awarded the Silver Award in recognition of your 91 service hours supporting Page Turners. Another Bay Area volunteer, and at just 15 years old, Noshin has reviewed 35 books for us in the past year.  Titles on that list include First Rule of Punk by Celia Perez, Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From by Jennifer de Leon, Jackpot by Nic Stone, and The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline.

 Noshin began volunteering with Words Alive as part of the #CaliforniansForAll Summer of Service statewide initiative in 2020.  She was searching for a way to help people while staying safe at home – and gravitated towards an opportunity to use her love of reading to do so. 

 Noshin’s insight into dozens of books is helping us identify the best titles to connect other teens with stories that reflect their lived experiences.  I’d like to share with you powerful insight Noshin shared with us after she read Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhhà Lai. 

“I tried to put myself in Hà's shoes and imagine myself as a 10-year old never feeling emotionally secure with only my mother and brothers to help and support me regardless of the rare kindness shown by the people of my new country, but soon realized that unless I'm cast out into another world with the offer of peace and comfort but still not finding it, I could never understand the genuine pain these immigrant children had to suffer from daily in a new and strange environment.”

 Noshin shared with us that when she found Words Alive and the Page Turners program she instinctively knew she needed to join our book-loving community.  In fact, she called it the “perfect opportunity for an over enthusiastic bookworm” like her. And we are certainly lucky to have Noshin in our book-loving community. 

Annika Schafer is being recognized with the Gold Award in recognition of an extraordinary 416 hours leading and growing our Page Turners program. Annika has been a stellar volunteer for Words Alive for many years now, hosting book drives, writing curriculum, and even helping us with the behind-the-scenes infrastructure needed to produce our curriculum. In 2020 she stepped up for Words Alive in a major way. When the pandemic hit, Annika asked us how she could help Words Alive respond.

 From her home in San Diego, and then her pandemic home-away-from-home in Upstate New York, Annika stepped up to volunteer to lead our Page Turners program. 

• She quadrupled the Page Turners volunteer base and expanded the program’s reach internationally.

• She built an entirely new database and communications structure to help the program scale.

• She designed and implemented strategies to recruit and celebrate our Page Turners community.

• In this work, Annika managed relationships with Fortune 500 corporations and service groups from Brooklyn to Irvine.

 Annika paved the way for Page Turners to be a volunteer-led program. She built the infrastructure to guide volunteers to contribute nearly 4,900 hours in support of the program.  Said another way, every 1 volunteer hour Annika invested it resulted in volunteers contributing another 12 hours.

 She has since trained a new cohort of volunteers to lead Page Turners and is stepping into her next volunteer role with Words Alive – hopefully helping us grow again. We are overjoyed to have Annika in our community – and are a stronger organization for her service.

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Again, Congratulations to Annika, Noshin, Teoman, Zoe, Caleb, and Anika! We appreciate everything you have done for Words Alive. If you are inspired by these volunteers and want to join our team, click here.

Why Mentorship Matters: Thoughts From a WAWS Mentor

This personal essay was written by one of our volunteers, Ameena Vasim! Ameena is a mentor in our Words Alive Westreich Scholarship (WAWS) program, in which we pair graduates from our Adolescent Book Group with mentors and resources as they pursue their higher education goals. Mentoring has played a significant role in Ameena's personal life, so it's a topic that she's passionate about. She shares with us what a mentor is and why mentoring matters.

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Mentors: we have all heard about them. But few of us, including me, have stopped to think about their significance in our lives.

Let’s start from the beginning: the origin of the word “Mentor.” According to Wikipedia, Mentor was a friend of Odysseus. When Odysseus left for the Trojan War, he placed Mentor in charge of his son Telemachus. When Athena visited Telemachus, she took the disguise of Mentor. As Mentor, the goddess encouraged Telemachus to stand up against the suitors and go abroad to find out what happened to his father. Because of Mentor's relationship with Telemachus, and the disguised Athena's encouragement, the name Mentor has been adopted in Latin and other languages, including English, as a term meaning someone who imparts wisdom to and shares knowledge with a less-experienced colleague.

One of my favorite quotes is from Galileo Galilei: “You cannot teach a man anything. You can only help him discover it within himself.” Mentors are people who help us discover what's within us.

The success and accomplishments of my life are largely attributed to my mentors, people who imparted wisdom, shared their knowledge and showed me the ropes. Who are these mentors and where do we find them? Mentors are teachers who help guide us, build our confidence and develop the character required to propel our lives forward in a positive direction. Regular people around us, like our parents, grandparents, a teacher, an elder sibling, a movie actor or even a cartoon character, can all act as mentors in our lives.

The mentor/mentee relationship is nuanced and special. The mentee is the driver in the relationship: they decide the destination and the route to reach it. A mentor, on the other hand, is bringing their expertise to guide the mentee. They are bringing their wisdom to light someone's path. If you don’t know what you want from them, they won’t be able to help you. Every meeting with the mentor needs to have a clear agenda and when you leave the meeting, you should have a list of action items. It is possible that some of these action items would require a considerable amount of time and work and it is also possible that you might hit a wall with them. The objective here is to brainstorm these challenges, work out the kinks and show progress.

Another common misconception is that mentors are primarily for help with education and career. However, our personal lives are not separate from our professional lives; they are integrated and need to be well balanced for us to grow. Be it for personal or professional reasons, the intention to have a better life and to accomplish our goals is one of the drivers to find mentors. There is no shame in asking for help; you will be surprised at people’s willingness to offer it.

So how do you know when you need a mentor? Personally, when I am faced with questions like "What now? Where do I go from here? How do I deal with this?", I know that I need a mentor. But before I look for a mentor, I start by formulating the problem statement clearly in my mind. When we are stuck, our anxiety, uncertainty and the fear of the unknown creates a noise, a fog that can hide the underlying problem. It is important to filter out this noise. I sit with the issue for a few days, and meditate to define it. Once I understand my problem, I do a little research to get more information on the subject. Then I look around in my network to see who I can reach out to.

Drawing an example from my personal life, a few years ago I got a bad rating at work. This impacted my career ambitions. I was not only angry or disappointed, but also confused. From my perspective I did everything right: in my mind I was a hard-working employee who was meeting all the deadlines and doing what was supposed to be done. These negative feelings stayed with me for a while, changing my attitude towards work to a noticeable extent. I discussed this situation with my spiritual mentor and I realized that I was allowing this anger, disappointment and confusion to blur the actual problem. I got too wrapped up in the symptoms and lost the focus on the actual cause. I meditated and defined my problem statement clearly. I arranged for a meeting with my senior manager.

When I walked into her office, I was calm and I had a clear agenda. I said, “I take full responsibility for the ratings that I got this year. There are definitely gaps that are blocking me from moving forward. Unless I know these gaps, I won’t be able to rectify them. I need help and guidance; perhaps a mentor who can provide a different perspective?” There were no complaints, no mention of any disappointments, just a well-articulated problem with an intention of seeking next steps. She referred me to a mentor. I not only got the best rating the corresponding year but in a couple years I got promoted.

I don’t think there is any accomplished person on this planet who did not have a mentor. The technology at our fingertips has made it very easy to learn on your own. If anything, we are drowning in information. However, we can all benefit from surrounding ourselves with people, who might not teach us information, but rather help us discover the talents, passions, and strengths within ourselves.

So, next time you are struggling with a problem, reflect on whether or not a mentor might be able to help you. Take that first step of defining your problem statement, embrace the possibility of mentorship, and then see which doors you might be able to open with mentors to guide your way.

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As a WAWS mentor and the author of this post, Ameena beautifully illustrates the importance of mentorship. All of these reasons she’s explained (and more!) and the same reasons we are so adamant about providing our scholars with mentorship—we recognize that not everyone has equal access to caring people who can serve as mentors, and we want to ensure that our scholars have that opportunity. Mentors help our scholars discover their strengths and passions, share new perspectives on their challenges, guide them through tough decisions, and perhaps most importantly, encourage professional and personal growth. Learn more about our scholars and how you can support them here.

The Words Alive Reader: March 19, 2021

Welcome to The Words Alive Reader, a regular 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!

Meet Our 11-Year-Old Volunteer, Elise!

A picture of Elise on a blue and orange background.

Elise Goldwasser is one of our youngest volunteers ever! She is passionate about reading and joined us as a volunteer fundraiser for our latest Champions for Youth campaign. She reminds us: “People should be more accepting of kids and not make everything ‘only adults,’ because kids can do a lot of things too!”

Her story shows kids—and adults—what is possible when we use our passion to serve our communities. Read more about her experience with Words Alive and why everyone should volunteer on our blog!

Thank You, San Diego Gulls and Cal Coast

A big pile of learning supplies ready to give away to students: books, colored pencils, glue sticks, and more!

Words Alive would like to thank the San Diego Gulls Foundation and Cal Coast Credit Union for hosting a book and learning supply drive for us in celebration of Read Across America Day! Thanks to their support, we received $3,925 in cash, plus more than $400 worth of learning supplies from our Amazon wishlist. We are so grateful for the generosity of our community and can't wait to get these supplies into the hands of our students. If you would like to help us provide even more books and learning supplies to students and families, you can purchase something from our wishlist right now!

Celebrate Women's History Month with Cover to Cover

The cover of Internment by Samira Ahmed. A girl wearing a baseball cap that says “Resist.”

Women’s History Month is here! If you’d like to celebrate with us, grab a copy of this month’s Cover to Cover book, Internment, by Samira Ahmed.

Internment follows a teenager named Layla and her family, who are forced into an internment camp for Muslim-Americans. Even though it is set in the future, this novel is very much about our past, and even our present, and the ways in which we are in danger of repeating history if we don't examine it.

Every week, we release new activities for 9th-12th graders to engage with the important ideas in diverse, young adult literature. Follow along here!

Save the Date: Volunteer Appreciation Celebration

A graphic that says “You’re Invited! Words Alive’s 12th Annual Volunteer Appreciation Celebration, Presented by EY.” In the bottom half, it says “Thursday, April 22 at 4PM PT. Sign up to join us for an optional breakout session to participate in the 2021 Art & Lit project!”

We want to celebrate you! You are invited to the 12th Annual Volunteer Appreciation Celebration, taking place on Thursday, April 22nd at 4:00 PM PT. Join us as we reflect on a year of incredible contributions from volunteers all across San Diego, the United States, and the world! Save the date and a Zoom link will be made available soon.

Donate here to support Words Alive!

This newsletter, in addition to our blog and social media content, is written by us, a cohort of 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.

- Zoe, Eli, Nia and Titiksha, Words Alive Storytelling Team

Plot Twist: Elise Goldwasser

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.

March Page Turner of the Month

Every month we like to highlight one of our superstar Page Turners!

our March Page Turner of the Month is…

Christine Northup

How did you get started with Words Alive?

I started volunteering with Words Alive about a month or two into the pandemic. It was difficult during the initial shut down and I wanted to help as a virtual volunteer. I found the Page Turners opportunity through a Google search, and since I love to read, it was a perfect fit!

What has been the best book you've read with Page Turners?

I've enjoyed reading many of the Page Turner books, but my favorites so far are Patron Saints of Nothing and Sabrina & Corina. 

Why did you start reading books with Page Turners and why do you continue?

As mentioned, volunteering as a Page Turner seemed like a perfect fit because of my love of reading. I was really drawn to Words Alive's mission of instilling a love of reading and inspiring students to become lifelong learners. Also, I love the flexibility! If I sign up for a book and life gets too busy, there's no pressure if I have to put my reading or review on hold for a bit. At the same time, each Page Turners sign-up keeps me accountable and committed to completing the book and my review.

How has being a Page Turner changed the way you read or think about reading?

Being a Page Turner has really changed the way I view YA Fiction, which is much more complex than I remember! I always seem to be learning something new.

What city are you based in?

I'm based in San Diego.

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Want to become a Page Turner? Get started below:

The Words Alive Reader: February 26, 2021

Welcome to The Words Alive Reader, a regular 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!

FLP Launches at Lindsay Community School

A picture of our porcupine craft: a drawing of a porcupine decorated with toothpicks. Writing above the porcupine says “"‘He feels spikey. Comb his hair!’ — Starling”

In early February, we kicked off a fully-virtual version of our Family Literacy Program at Lindsay Community School! The Lindsay School, our longest-standing partner school, serves pregnant and parenting teens. Thanks to the generosity of the Words Alive community, we are now working with both the teen moms and their children.

In advance of our first session, families received Learning Kits for each of the weeks we’re learning together. Learning Kits include a copy of the story, parent guides, and craft materials related to the book.  At our first session, we read How Do You Hug a Porcupine? The kids followed along with the story – read in English and Spanish by our outstanding teaching artists — and then together we completed the most adorable porcupine craft projects!

If you'd like to help us provide books and learning supplies to students in our Family Literacy Program, check out our Amazon wishlist the next time you’re shopping online.

Celebrating Our 200th Story Station

A graphic that says “200 days of Story Station!” next to pictures of three of our volunteer Story Station Conductors.

"The greatest gain is being able to model the behaviors that we'd love to see parents embrace in the home." — Jim McIlhon, Story Station volunteer, on the power of virtual read alouds

We recently shared our 200th live read aloud on Story Station! Our daily read alouds on Facebook Live (every weekday at 2 pm PT) have become a beloved way for children and families to connect through the power of story.

Want to celebrate with us? Check out this blog post about one of our Story Station conductors, Mr. Jim, to learn more about why sharing stories with children and families is so important.

Meet our Curriculum Leads

A graphic featuring pictures of our four Curriculum Leads: Cheryl Converse-Rath, Nanditha Krishnan, Vivian Lin, and Marcus Weber.

We are thrilled to introduce four incredible volunteers who have stepped up to lead our Curriculum Crew: Cheryl, Nanditha, Vivian, and Marcus! Words Alive’s Curriculum Leads coordinate the 80+ volunteers who are writing, editing, and designing the curriculum used in our programming – both in person and online. Discover their favorite books, reasons for volunteering, challenges and rewards of being a Curriculum Crew Lead Volunteer, and more in our new blog post.

Champions for Youth Bonus Funding Results

A graphic that says “Champion for Youth Results.” The graphic features the words “$53,000 Bonus Funding” over a trophy, with the words “$93,000 total!” at the bottom.

Throughout December and January, we had the exciting opportunity to participate in the Champions for Youth campaign with the Century Club of San Diego and Farmers Insurance.  

The results are in: all together, we earned $92,400 through the campaign – which included over $53,000 in bonus funding that was based on the number of individuals who made a gift, of any size, in support of the campaign.  

Thank you so much to everyone who supported us! Even if you missed out on the campaign, it's never too late to support our students and families. Learn how you can give here. 

We’re Hiring

A graphic that says “Join the team as our Engagement Director” above a picture of our staff.

Do you love providing people with opportunities to invest in causes they care about? Are you passionate about the power of reading? Come work with us!

We're looking for an Engagement Director to join our leadership team. You'll help us strategically engage our community to support our mission through investments of time, skills, donations, and resources. Learn more about this exciting opportunity here, and help us spread the word.

Donate here to support Words Alive!

This newsletter, in addition to our blog and social media content, is written by us, a cohort of 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.

- Zoe, Eli, Nia and Titiksha, Words Alive Storytelling Team

February Page Turner of the Month

Every month we like to highlight one of our superstar Page Turners. Our amazing February Page Turner has read over 60 hours worth of books since she first joined.

our February Page Turner of the Month is…

Ileana Vazquez

1) Why did you start reading books with Page Turners and why do you continue?

I began volunteering with Page Turners initially because I found it to be a great opportunity and I was interested in incorporating the experience into my senior project. The more books I read, the more I wanted to keep reading with Page Turners! The books I read had such engaging, diverse experiences and I think it's important that other students like myself are able to experience those stories as well.

2) What has been the best book you've read with Page Turners?

Pride by Ibi Zoboi was the best book I’ve read with Page Turners. As a fan of the novel Pride and Prejudice, I really appreciated the diversity and the celebration of Afro-Latino culture in the book!

3) What city are you based in?

Denver, CO

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Want to become a Page Turner? Get started below:

Meet the Curriculum Leads!

Here at Words Alive, we have four incredible volunteers who have stepped up to lead our Curriculum Crew — a team of more than 85 volunteers! They help coordinate other volunteers to write, edit, and design our curriculum guides and Write Now prompts. Read on to discover their favorite books, their reasons for volunteering, the challenges and rewards of being a curriculum lead, and more.

Cheryl Converse-Rath: Writing Lead

Tell us about yourself! (if you have one, what's your favorite book and why?)

I am a newly retired 7th grade social studies teacher from Marshall Middle School. I love to travel and read. I don't know that I have a favorite book, but one that has stuck with me a long time is Jodi Picoult's My Sister's Keeper. Every chapter was in a different voice, which really made me question my beliefs—they seemed to change every time another character spoke. It really made me think hard about how I make decisions. The ethical choice the parents were forced to make and the sister 's awareness of that choice haunt me to this day.

What does being the Writing Lead involve?

In addition to writing curriculum, Learning Kit guides, and reviewing books for Page Turners, my "job" is to find people from the volunteer list to also write Curriculum and Learning Kits for accepted books. Sometimes the requests are "urgent" and we have to get a lot of writers on board quickly! Words Alive recently received two grants [for exciting new program partnerships]; the curriculum and learning kits have to be done by next month.

How did you get involved with Words Alive? Why do you volunteer with us?

I got involved with Words Alive because I knew I wanted to volunteer with kids and reading after retirement. The 1st place I signed up to volunteer for only needed 1 hour / week and it would be months before things got started. I reached out to Jose Cruz, the CEO of San Diego Literacy, and he told me about Words Alive. I love the mission and the variety of ways I can be involved. I can work a lot or a little. For now, being able to work a lot is helping me keep sane.

What are the most rewarding/most challenging aspects of your role?

The most rewarding part is to see how different volunteers take on the writing. It is great to have so many voices! The most challenging is when fewer people respond than what we need. I have to remember that although I am pretty free these days, not everyone else is.

Anything else you'd like to share?

Words Alive has introduced me to so many books and writers I would never have discovered on my own. I have read several YA books and have passed a couple on to other students I volunteer with in another program. My kids are all grown, so it has been a long time since I have spent time with picture books. The message and illustrations in Crown: Ode to a Fresh Cut and The Undefeated are inspirational!

Nanditha Krishnan: Editing Lead

Tell us about yourself! (if you have one, what's your favorite book and why?)

My name is Nanditha Krishnan and I’m a junior in high school. I’m an artist, I love using charcoal and taking photos out in nature. I’m also a classical dancer and I’ve been learning the Indian classical dance form Bharatanatyam for 11 years now! My favorite book has got to be Revival by Stephen King. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book that fast before, and it kept me on edge the entire time I was reading!

What does being the Editing Lead involve?

It mostly involves distributing newly written guides to the editors and then passing them, once finished, on to the designing team. The leads organize guides by priority and type, such as curriculum, learning kits, and then further by age group. I also get to talk to a lot of the new volunteers who join the crew so that I can learn what kind of guides and books they prefer editing for.

How did you get involved with Words Alive? Why do you volunteer with us?

I got involved with Words Alive through another program called Californians For All. I initially was interested in the Read Aloud Program, but I ended up joining the curriculum team to help edit guides. (I also thought being on curriculum would give me an excuse to buy more books). I was excited to be a part of Words Alive because I really enjoyed reading as a kid and I wanted other kids to get the chance to read and learn from great books.

What are the most rewarding/most challenging aspects of your role?

The most rewarding aspect of my role is getting to learn new perspectives from the editors. For example, the editors with young kids will point out things about learning activities that might be fun for kids to try that I had never even thought of. As a high schooler, I’m definitely not as familiar with what kids might enjoy, so its exciting that I get to meet so many different people and see things from their view.

Anything else you'd like to share?

Something new that I learned when I became a curriculum editor is the amount of work that goes into building social/emotional learning (SEL) questions about themes in novels. I had never heard of SEL before joining Words Alive so I found it really interesting that outside of checking comprehension, the guides were meant to create meaningful conversations about social topics and teach new themes.

I’m currently reading George Takei’s They Called Us Enemy!

Vivian Lin: Design Lead

Tell us about yourself! (if you have one, what's your favorite book and why?)

I am a UCSD Human Biology graduate with a minor in Psychology and I'm currently preparing to apply for med school! My favorite book is If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino. It's a very special book in which each chapter is seemingly telling its own story, but as you read on, you will realize that all individual stories are connected!

What does being the Design Lead involve?

[It] involves managing the designing stage of all the curriculum projects. Essentially, I coordinate with our excellent curriculum designers to finalize SEL icons, format curriculum guides, and design learning kits!

How did you get involved with Words Alive? Why do you volunteer with us?

I found Words Alive when I was looking for online volunteer opportunities during COVID. I am very glad that I found Words Alive because I just love the message the organization is spreading across local communities as well as how passionate everyone on the team is! Overall, volunteering with Words Alive has been a very rewarding and enriching experience!

What are the most rewarding/most challenging aspects of your role?

It always warms my heart whenever I see the finalized curriculum projects because I know that each of them has been the product of very solid teamwork!

Anything else you'd like to share?

Sara [our Community & Content Manager] is a super amazing coordinator! She's super helpful and very patient! Big shout out to her! :D

Marcus Weber: Write Now Lead

Tell us about yourself! (if you have one, what's your favorite book and why?

Hello. My name is Marcus Weber. My favorite book is a series, named Tucket’s Travels written by Gary Paulsen. It’s the story of Francis Tucket, a fourteen year old traveling west with a wagon train. The series chronicles his adventures and mishaps. I was drawn to the resourceful creativity Francis used to survive in the wilderness and amongst strangers as he faced challenges in the unforgiving wilderness.

What does being the Write Now Lead involve?

Write Now is a place for teens to cope and connect with current events. I coordinate a team of volunteers to produce writing prompts about current events. We post these prompts to the Words Alive website for anyone to use in their processing of current events. The most exciting part is hearing back from the people who use our prompts.

How did you get involved with Words Alive? Why do you volunteer with us?

I first became aware of Words Alive through the Target App. The app gives you the options to donate points to local nonprofits and Words Alive was one of them. Words Alive's mission to inspire lifelong learners through reading speaks to an instrumental aspect of my life: self-education. I enjoy knowing my effort is creating for others, the foundation in literacy which has benefited me tremendously in my life.

What are the most rewarding/most challenging aspects of your role?

There are many rewarding aspects of this role; working with other volunteers is one of my favorites. I get to read the creative prompts that are contributed by our team of volunteers. The most challenging aspect is maintaining a consistent stream of content; quality writing prompts take a decent amount of coordination before they are posted to the website.

Anything else you'd like to share?

We are always excited for new volunteers to join our team. If you're unsure of how much time you can commit to Words Alive, writing prompts for Write Now is a great place to start.

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We’re so thankful for these four volunteer leaders and all that they do! If you’ve been inspired by their stories and would like to work with them on the Curriculum Team, click here to learn more.

The Words Alive Reader: February 9, 2021

Welcome to The Words Alive Reader, a regular 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!

Words Alive in The San Diego Union-Tribune

A picture of our Executive Director, Rachael, with lots of books in a San Diego Union-Tribune article.

“When we rethought what the world looked like, we were able to meet people where they were and give them the opportunity to heal themselves and each other." — Rachael Orose, Executive Director of Words Alive

We were featured in the Local section of The San Diego Union-Tribune for our work during the pandemic! We're so honored to have our work recognized in this way — and it's a powerful testament to the support of our community. Story Station, Treat Yo' Shelf, Page Turners, Family Literacy, Read Aloud Program, Adolescent Book Group, the Westreich Scholarship, and so much more wouldn't exist without you! 

Read the article here to learn more about our impact during the pandemic. 

Champions for Youth Results

An image of a smiling child with his mother below the words “THANK YOU for helping us raise $35,000!”

Over the last two months, 22 volunteer fundraisers helped us raise more than $35,000 in our Champions for Youth campaign! A huge shoutout to all of the donors, fundraisers, and Champions who spread the mission and message of this Words Alive campaign. We are so grateful for your support. 

If you missed out on the campaign but still want to support our students and families, it's not too late! Donate here. 

New Board Leadership

A graphic featuring our incoming and past Words Alive Board Chairs: Andrea MacDonald, Past Board Chair, and Karen Silberman, Incoming Board Chair.

Join us in welcoming four new officers to the Words Alive Board of Directors: Karen Silberman, Chair; Laura Kohn, Vice Chair; Karen Malin, Secretary; and Sandra Korwek, Treasurer!

At the January Board meeting, our new Chair, Karen Silberman, outlined a vision for Words Alive with highlights including improving the financial stability of the organization, raising Words Alive’s profile throughout San Diego, and increasing and celebrating diversity throughout all aspects of our work.

We are so thankful to Andrea MacDonald for her fearless leadership and service as our Board Chair the past two years, guiding us through significant organizational transitions including finding a new executive director and pivoting our organization to be responsive to the needs of our community during the pandemic. We are honored that Andrea will continue to serve on the Board and continue to guide us forward.

You can learn more about our Board of Directors here!

Anonymous $150,000 Gift!

A graphic of a mother and two children with the words “THANK YOU for $150,000 to help us change lives!”

We are excited and humbled to share that Words Alive has received an incredible donation of $150,000!! You can read all about it in the Times of San Diego.

The donor has chosen to remain anonymous, but just in case they’re reading this, we are deeply grateful for your incredible generosity and support. We couldn't do what we do without the support of our community, and now we're able to change even more lives through the power of reading!

Project Literacy Special on ABC 10 News

A screenshot from the Project Literacy Special. A newscaster stands in front of an image of a mother reading to her daughters, with the caption “Project Literacy: Building lifelong love of reading.”

It’s been a newsworthy month for us at Words Alive! We were recently featured in a 30-minute Project Literacy special on ABC 10. In the Reader, you hear a lot about the work that we're doing, but the truth is: we're just one solution in a community-wide effort to combat illiteracy.

We encourage you to check out the special to learn more about how illiteracy affects our community and the many incredible people who are working to address this problem. Find the whole video here! 

Celebrate Black History Month with Cover to Cover

The cover of Dear Martin by Nic Stone.

This February, celebrate Black History Month by reading Dear Martin with us through Cover to Cover, our monthly book club for teens! Through Cover to Cover, we guide teens through diverse, relevant, and modern novels — stories that often reflect their lived experiences.

Dear Martin, a powerful coming of age story by Nic Stone, explores themes of racial injustice, police brutality, and interracial relationships as the main character, Justyce, copes with current events in his life by writing letters to Martin Luther King, Jr. Every week in February, we'll be releasing new activities for 9th-12th graders to engage with the important ideas in this book — ones that are crucial to our work all year round. Follow along here! 

Donate here to support Words Alive!

This newsletter, in addition to our blog and social media content, is written by us, a cohort of 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.

- Zoe, Eli, Nia and Titiksha, Words Alive Storytelling Team