Plot Twist: 2022 Curriculum Editor of the Year Angela Tran

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 Angela Tran.

Our Curriculum Editor of the Year, Angela Tran makes her impact felt at Words Alive no matter the distance! Based in New York, Angela graduated college with a major in Chemistry and minors in Biology and Philosophy. She now works full-time as a medical scribe for an urgent care and has been volunteering with us virtually as a Curriculum Editor since November 2020! 

“...I don’t directly see or talk to the students who use these guides as I volunteer remotely from another state. However, I enjoy working as an editor because I’m allowed to be a part of making these [curriculum] guides become a success. Reading has always been one of my hobbies since I was young, and it makes me happy to know that these guides are helping kids fall in love with reading too.”

— Angela Tran

Angela discovered Words Alive while exploring VolunteerMatch for ways to continue helping at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. She explained feeling connected to Words Alive’s mission as it allowed her to combine her hobbies of reading and editing peoples’ written work for fun to make an impact on others.

As a Curriculum Editor, Angela edits the learning kits and guides that our volunteers and teachers use to help students engage with the books they’re reading for Words Alive’s programs. Collaborating with our Curriculum Designers and Writers to create finalized guides, she’s worked on twelve curriculum guides so far and is now editing her thirteenth! She shares, “…Even though my role was only one part of the process, it felt meaningful knowing that I was able to help put together something that would help other children enjoy reading and writing.” 

Cover of Why am I Me? by Paige Britt, Sean Qualls, Selina Alko.

This sentiment carries from her experience of working on her very first curriculum guide back in November 2020 for the book, Why Am I Me?

Angela recalls that editing the guide for its story, which focuses on figuring out what makes a person unique, carried a lot of meaning for her as the guide challenged young students to find their own answers towards a topic that even adults struggle to tackle. After finishing her edits, she described seeing the final version of the guide in December as incredible and felt grateful to have contributed to its creation. She reflects, “I hope that the students who used this guide also enjoyed reading this story and were able to understand a little more about what makes them special as human beings in this world.” 

In the future, Angela is set to matriculate to medical school this upcoming summer 2022! She revealed that amid her busy work and school schedule, volunteering at Words Alive helped her to revitalize her hobby and appreciation for reading, as well as reminding her “how words can shape the person you become and how important it is to learn how to read and comprehend.”

Angela, thank you so much for your thoughtfulness and dedicated work helping us to uplift children, teens, and families through reading. We’re so grateful to be a part of your volunteering journey and positive impact! 

Book recommendation: “They Both Die at the End” by Adam Silvera  

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 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. 

Plot Twist: Meher Gandhi

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.

A picture of Meher.

Meet Meher Gandhi, an incredible volunteer who supports us all the way from her home Uttar Pradesh, India! Meher is a college student who navigates a 12-hour time difference to host virtual orientation sessions for those interested in joining our community. 

To Meher, being an orientation leader is all about “letting [new volunteers] know how much hard work, but also compassion that goes into the work that we do at Words Alive.” And she’s done a fantastic job: she has single-handedly introduced 130 potential volunteers to Words Alive since October, and was recently named Engagement Volunteer of the Year at our 12th Annual Volunteer Appreciation Celebration for her incredible work.

To introduce herself, Meher says, “Anybody who knows me knows that I love literature; I love reading and writing and talking to people and getting to know them, which is precisely why I am glad that I'm a part of Words Alive!” 

At university, she studies media, literature, and psychology, and she also works with publishers to review books on her blog and her bookstagram (book-themed Instagram) account @bustleboutbooks — so she has a lot of experience with the power of words.

In the fall of 2020, she decided to try to find a place where she could use her love for reading and writing and her diverse experiences in the world of words to give back to the community. She wanted to increase access to the kinds of literacy resources that have made such an impact in her own life.

“I signed up with VolunteerMatch, and then I got to know about Words Alive and I didn't look any further,” she says, smiling.

The cover of Dear Martin, by Nic Stone.

Initially, Meher joined us as a curriculum writer for the book Dear Martin by Nic Stone. She loved learning how to analyze books on a deeper level and knowing that the curriculum she wrote would directly impact the lives of students. 

“I’ve analyzed the book and I’ve brought together some resources that can actually help kids in the longer run to really understand aspects like racism or violence or police brutality,” she says. 

Though the topics may sometimes be difficult, she loves getting to help students grapple with these big concepts through words and stories.

After a few months of curriculum writing, Meher stepped up to lead other volunteers as an orientation leader. 

“When I had to give the first orientation...I was pretty nervous, because there was a lot of responsibility that I felt...being the face of the organization,” she shares. “I wanted to be absolutely perfect at that — at communicating all the values that we uphold and how we really approach things,” she says.

Meher herself had only been with Words Alive for two to three months at this point! But this fresh perspective made her the perfect person to understand how other new volunteers might feel when hearing about Words Alive for the first time and to address their doubts and concerns. With each new orientation, she grew in her confidence and ability to share the mission of Words Alive.

Because of the time difference between the U.S. and India, she occasionally has to run her orientations at 4 in the morning! But she doesn’t mind. “I do remember waking up in the middle of the night for my first orientation for Words Alive, and that's something I will always cherish because that just shows how much I really wanted to be a part of it,” Meher says. 

Words Alive volunteer Jim McIlhon presents Meher the Engagement Volunteer of the Year Award at the Volunteer Appreciation Celebration.

“It's all been worth it. I welcome all the new potential volunteers that come in, and that’s just wonderful because there are a lot of new people who want to know about Words Alive,” she says. “I am really, really grateful to be a part of the organization...Everybody makes you feel like it’s a family.” 

Meher is passionate about creating opportunities for people from different cultures to learn from each other. “Being an international volunteer, I do have sort of a different way to approach certain things,” she says. “But I think that’s how we can actually learn to incorporate different cultural heritages and cultural introductions that we give to each other.” 

“Literacy is not just about gaining qualifications or degrees; it’s more about broadening your horizons on the ways you look at things.”

“You have a mix of all these cultures and all these traditions...and that just contributes to the higher purpose we have,” she says. “Literacy is not just about gaining qualifications or degrees; it’s more about broadening your horizons on the ways you look at things.” 

Meher’s biggest takeaway from being a Words Alive volunteer, she says, is that she “was able to really understand the ways of the organization and how we are really giving something to the community—to the people—not just in words, but in actions.”

In the future, Meher hopes that Words Alive can bring in even more international volunteers so that more people around the world learn about our work. She is also excited about engaging more with other volunteers and trying out new roles within Words Alive such as the Storytelling Team and Page Turners. 

And one day, she says, “I really hope I can visit San Diego and see and meet you all in person!”

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Meher, we hope we get to meet you in person one day too! You are making a difference around the world and we are so thankful for the passion you bring to Words Alive.

This post was created by Zoe Wong and Judy Stout, Words Alive volunteers! 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.

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

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.

Plot Twist: Logan Holland

Welcome to our new 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.

A picture of Logan.

Meet Logan Holland, one of our awesome Words Alive volunteers! Logan is currently a graduate student at UC San Diego studying mitochondria and the heart, and she is a passionate and dedicated supporter of our mission. We sat down with Logan to talk about the surprising connection between science and literature, the role of books in her own life, and why she volunteers with Words Alive.

Logan joined us in 2018, during her second year of college. She was feeling unfulfilled in her undergraduate science classes—“like I needed more words and literature in my life,” she puts it—so she did a Google search and discovered Words Alive. She started out as an ABG and Art & Lit volunteer and has gone on to support us in many different roles since!

Logan's current favorite book, Bone Light by Orlando White.

“Literacy definitely impacts every single facet of everyday life,” she says, describing how literacy factors into civic engagement, navigating the healthcare system, and developing critical thinking skills (“becoming a better human!” as Logan puts it). And at Words Alive, she says, “Everyone is super passionate about reading and really spreading reading as not just a hobby, but as something that can really further education, further people’s opportunities, further people’s futures. That’s why I’ve stayed and tried to get involved as much as I can.”

In addition to the importance of basic literacy skills, she's passionate about the power of story to change lives. “Everything I did in college is because of books that I read as a kid,” she explains, “which is why I want to work with this organization.”

Words have held an important role in Logan’s own life ever since she was little, a book-loving kid reading for hours to pass the time while her parents worked. But until she began volunteering with Words Alive, she didn't fully appreciate how far books have gotten her. “Only one of my parents went to college, so I did not have this strong academic upbringing,” she says. But today, as a graduate student, she concludes: “I think the only reason I’m here is because I was reading a lot of books.”

““Doctors are interacting with humanity in a pretty raw form, right? Literature is doing the same thing, but just in a different way. It’s just really getting into what makes us human.””

The books that she read inspired her to explore the connection between science and stories with a major in biochemistry and a minor in literature and writing. “I like to think of myself as a double major at heart,” she says. “I wanted to understand humans biochemically, and then figuratively with literature.”

Her passion for exploring the human condition eventually led her to the field of medicine. “Doctors are interacting with humanity in a pretty raw form, right?” Logan points out. “Literature is doing the same thing, but just in a different way. It’s just really getting into what makes us human.”

She points to the framework of narrative medicine as an example. In narrative medicine, clinicians are trained to see illness, diagnosis and treatment as a story. “They’re having doctors read books and take creative writing classes to foster that empathy because that is super important in clinical practice, but also everyday life,” she explains. Logan sees this as evidence that stories are vital for helping us connect with and understand each other more deeply. “The more books we can get everyone reading, the better,” she declares. And through her work with Words Alive, she’s helped us do just that.

A screenshot from our Zoom conversation with Logan.

Since the pandemic hit, Logan has really taken leadership in training other volunteers to make an impact in this new virtual environment. She’s always enthusiastic and eager to help others understand the impact of the work they’ll be doing—she even recruited her roommate to start writing curriculum for us!

Throughout this experience, she has been surprised and encouraged by the amount of people who have stepped up to help. “It has been really amazing to work with Sara [our Communications Manager] and just recruit a lot more people because I think the more people helping, the bigger the better, the bigger the impact,” she says. She misses seeing the results of her work in person, but until then, she says, “I really hope that Words Alive can keep using the power of the internet to spread their message and recruit more volunteers.”

Of all the many hats she’s worn at Words Alive, from helping with Art & Lit to translating literacy sessions in Barrio Logan to virtually training other volunteers, writing curriculum is her favorite. Through her time volunteering in classrooms before COVID-19, she saw firsthand how good curriculum impacted the students she worked with; well-written questions got them engaged with a story, excited about a character or passionate about a cause.

A student speaks about the 2019 Art & Lit project, “The Radius of All of Us.”

She remembers one Art & Lit experience in particular, when she was able to see the impact of the book The Radius of Us on one of the students. “He gave a speech of gratitude of how much this book changed his perception of the world,” Logan says, smiling. “That is my favorite memory. To see that impact in one person was very, very cool.” 

Knowing that the questions she writes can lead to such powerful reactions is why she loves curriculum writing so much. “I’m just writing words on my computer at home,” she says, “but people are interacting with these words and they’re becoming ideas, or passions, or career choices—which is my life story.”

Logan, we’re so grateful for the time and energy you dedicate to bringing the power of words to our community. Thank you for sharing your story with us!