Meet Yiyang

Yiyang with her cat Eggie

In February 2024, Words Alive excitedly welcomed Yiyang Hu to the team as our Curriculum Development Intern! A Baylor University alumnus, she is currently pursuing a master's degree in Developmental Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. Her graduate studies have deepened her interest in curriculum development and instructional design, particularly how educational content and teaching strategies can significantly impact learning outcomes. At Words Alive, she hopes to explore these interests further and contribute to creating engaging and effective educational programs.

Fun fact: Yiyang is originally from Chengdu, China, also known as the hometown of pandas!

Now, a few words from Yiyang:

What intrigued you about Words Alive? Why did you want to join the team?

As a first-generation college student, I have a profound appreciation for the importance of education. The diversity and inclusivity of Words Alive deeply resonate with me. The organization is committed to making reading an integral part of everyone's life, especially for those families and individuals with limited economic, educational, and social resources. To me, Words Alive's efforts to enhance students' reading skills and promote reading awareness are crucial. In today's society, reading is not just a skill but an ability—a way to connect with the world. Innovative programs like the Adolescent Book Group and the Early Literacy Intervention model, to ensure that every individual, regardless of their socioeconomic status, has access to literacy and the benefits it brings is truly inspiring.

Furthermore, I am deeply moved by your dedication to the Family Literacy Program. Providing parents with tools and techniques to encourage their children to read help ensure everyone has an equal opportunity to access books and pursue their dreams. Knowing that Words Alive reaches thousands of students and families, helping them to develop critical reading and cognitive skills, and fostering a joy for reading, aligns perfectly with my own values of education and community service.

What are you most excited about in your new position?

In my new position, I am most excited about refining my technical skills, specifically enhancing my proficiency in instructional design with an emphasis on improving quality control for educational materials. My experience so far has been centered on creating lesson plans for classes of around 30 students. Now, I aim to further develop my skills in monitoring and enhancing the quality of educational content, ensuring alignment with best practices, and identifying areas for improvement. I also look forward to advancing my abilities in managing, organizing, and analyzing curriculum-related data to make well-informed recommendations for curriculum enhancements.

Additionally, I am eager to improve my program management and interpersonal skills. By actively engaging in the planning, execution, and evaluation of educational programs, as well as in post-program analysis, I hope to learn how to effectively match program objectives with educational outcomes, optimize program delivery, and employ data-driven strategies to measure program impact. Currently, I thoroughly enjoy participating in weekly meetings at Words Alive. The community here is incredibly supportive and kind, sharing successes, challenges, and priorities. I truly appreciate the collaborative atmosphere and the opportunity to contribute to our collective goals.

What is your relationship with literacy and learning?

My relationship with literacy and learning is itself a journey. From learning how to pronounce letters and words to reading my first sentence, I've built a valuable foundation and platform that would ultimately guide me towards success.

Hans Christian Andersen’s Selected Fairy Tales

This love I speak of is my passion for reading, writing, and literacy skills. From a young age, my parents instilled in me the value of reading, guiding me towards picking up books in my spare time. Growing up without the distractions of a cellphone, I found joy in the pages of books. Despite the increasing demands of academic life as I grew older, I've maintained the habit of reading, often indulging in books before going to bed. One of the books I cherished most in my childhood was Selected Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen. His tales, brimming with whimsy and intrigue, such as my favorite, The Emperor's New Clothes, for its humor and fun. The story is not only entertaining with its engaging plot and vivid characterizations but also easy to read and joyful. It imparts a profound lesson: truth and honesty are more valuable than superficial splendor and insincere flattery. This story taught me to value authenticity.

In essence, my relationship with literacy and learning is more than just a means to gain knowledge; it's a lifestyle that leads me to explore the world, understand humanity, and inspires a passion for education and personal development. Through my experiences and efforts, I hope to inspire others to also experience the joy and value that literacy and learning bring.

What are you currently reading?

Recently I am reading a book called The Courage to Be Disliked. There's a passage that resonated with me deeply, which I'd love to share:

"Life is not about measuring up to others' expectations, but about striving towards the best version of oneself. We do not live to meet the expectations of others, but to live out our own lives. Being spoken ill of or disliked is nothing to worry about because how someone views you is their issue to deal with."

The Courage to be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga

As someone who often finds herself caught between sensitivity and a concern for others' opinions, this book has been a mirror, showing me the depth of my self-conflict. If you've ever felt paralyzed by worrying about what others think, if you're a people-pleaser who struggles to assert your own needs, or if you find it difficult to reject requests from others, I can't recommend this book enough. It offers a fresh perspective on how to navigate the world while being true to oneself.

Meet Our New Storytelling Intern, Steven!

Introducing another new addition to the Words Alive team: our summer Storytelling Intern, Steven Zhao!

Steven is on the right!

Steven’s drive to engage with Words Alive’s undertaking of empowerment through literacy and tell the stories of its individuals, communities, and programs is driven by a love for reading and other forms of human expression as well as a fervent appreciation of literature as a crucial medium through which people contemplate their lived experiences.

His work as a storytelling intern is informed by his personal journey with reading and his learning experiences at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), at which he pursues a major in communication studies and a minor in philosophy. 

Steven’s bicultural identity and exposure to books in both English and Chinese growing up served as major sources of nurture and wonder, whether that is in learning to understand viewpoints and worlds different from his own, contemplating expressed messages and values, or in being challenged to reflect on himself. In combination with his studies, he believes reading to be not just the consumption of the written word, but a well of potential for enjoyment and meaning and an integral aspect of the human capacity for communication. 

In terms of his minor, Steven is most interested in the areas of moral and political philosophy. He places high value on and believes in the benefits of curiosity, a lifelong capability for learning, and approaching unfamiliar ideas with critical thinking and charity. He resonates with how reading and Words Alive’s programs empower communities through cultivating these traits. 

Steven’s experience with reading has also inspired him to explore creative expression. He wrote for the Arts and Entertainment section of the Daily Bruin, enjoys creative writing, and is currently taking an intensive screenwriting program at UCLA’s Summer Film Institute as he works with Words Alive virtually from LA.

In his free time, Steven loves to take in fantasy books, Dungeons and Dragons podcasts, and mystery shows. He also enjoys working holistically on his health by working out and keeping a journal. Occasionally he likes to turn his brain off and play Pokémon or League of Legends. He is also a tenor for UCLA’s Awechords A Capella. 

How did you discover Words Alive? What drew you to interning here?

I discovered Words Alive through their posting on Handshake! I was drawn to the storytelling internship as it aligned with my personal passions and professional interests. Reading is and has been such a significant source of enjoyment for me, and I love to immerse myself in the awesome worlds and stories authors create. 

Now that I’m older, I’ve also realized that I have extracted so much meaning from the various stories I’ve read over the years that contribute to the way I look at the world. Words Alive interested me as an organization that works to improve literacy, and resonates deeply with me in its understanding of reading as a crucial skill set and critical to social and cognitive development. 

What book or story has had a big impact on you? Do you have a favorite quote?

““Sometimes a hypocrite is nothing more than a [person] in the process of changing” ”

— Dalinar Kholin, The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson

That would probably be The Stormlight Archive, an ongoing fantasy book series by my favorite author Brandon Sanderson. Set to be two five-book halves with a time skip in the middle, The Stormlight Archive is truly a story of epic proportions and great detail that is deserving of multiple rereads. It has an incredible thoughtfulness and complexity behind its interwoven storylines and there is an astounding attention to detail and consideration in its world building. 

This series is host to a plot of great scale, yet both this greater plot and the individual, interlocking stories of its diverse cast of characters are well written and exude urgency. Its most recent release, Rhythm of War, ended with quite literally one of the craziest twists that I’ve ever read and subverted expectations going forward in a very unsettling manner. 

The Stormlight Archive also uses its expansive world, cast, and story to ask a multitude of poignant questions throughout its different books – What is the value of a human life? When does one take responsibility? When is the law right? What lengths are justifiable in the face of a great threat? What is worth fighting for? – and more while exploring those questions from varying perspectives. Importantly, I feel that the story is, at its core, about broken people trying to get back up on their feet and figure out what they think is the right thing to do. It’s a story of resilience. 

What is your favorite recent read?

My favorite recent read is actually a fanfiction named Doors to the Unknown by Silver Pyromancer on the SpaceBattles forum. It’s a crossover between the Dungeons and Dragons universe and the self-published web serial Worm by John C. “Wildbow” McCrae, and it follows the related stories of a functionally immortal psionicist who travels across worlds and an unlikely band of stranded superheroes and villains who have to team up to survive in an unknown world. I’m a gigantic fan of stories with vast and intricate worldbuilding, and I’m incredibly impressed by the way Doors to the Unknown worked the complexities of D&D and Worm together in a way that made sense while having also compelling character arcs.

---

We are so excited to have Steven on our team! Are you interested in working with Words Alive? You can find open internship and employment opportunities here or click here to learn about how to volunteer with us!

Meet Bailey, Our Family Literacy Program Intern

Hi everyone! My name is Bailey Dill and I am a third year Child and Family Development student at San Diego State University. I am so excited to be a part of the Words Alive Family Literacy program because it will provide me with more experience on how to make reading more engaging and fun for others.

I want to pursue a career in becoming a teacher, so this opportunity to learn about making books more captivating is a perfect skill to have and then apply down the road. Words Alive was really intriguing for me to become a part of because I also want to be able to empower other families in becoming reading advocates as well! I think reading is so important for so many different reasons, such as inspiring imagination and creativity.

I personally have been reading since before I even knew how to read words. When I was younger, I loved picture books and even though I couldn’t understand the story itself I would make up stories using my imagination and I would entertain myself by just staring at the pictures.

The first books I actually remember reading are the Junie B. Jones books by Barbara Parks and Denise Brunkus. I owned every book in this series and I read each one multiple times. These books were so fun for me because they are chapter books, so I could split up the time I spent reading them, and they also had illustrations which helped with my visualizations.

Reading has always been something that I love, and before all the electronic devices became popular, that’s how I would entertain myself. I also especially love books that connect to a movie or series, because then I can compare my imagination to what someone else imagined. One summer, I read the entire Twilight series, and then I watched all the movies right after. Reading the books beforehand made the movies so much more fun to watch because I had that opportunity to compare what I had pictured in my head to what the movies actually looked like.

Overall, I think reading is such a wonderful skill to have, and it is such a fun way to improve other skills as well. I am so excited for this semester, and I am so happy to be able to share my love for reading with all of you through my position here at Words Alive! 

Meet Serena, Our Newest Page Turners Intern!

Hello Words Alive community, my name is Serena Cuomo! I am thrilled to have joined this organization and have the opportunity to connect with all of its supportive members, working hard together in this labor of love for reading. 

In the interest of connecting with you all better, let me introduce myself a bit. My relationship with books started at a very young age; so young that I couldn’t even read yet. I’ve been told from family members of mine that I used to pick up books and come up with my own stories to fill the pages as I flipped through them, reading aloud what I imagined them to say. As I grew up and learned to actually read the stories I was holding in my hands, a deep connection to each new story brewed inside. I saw every book as a new opportunity to connect to a new understanding of the world through different eyes. I remember this deep connection to literature really stirred inside of me by the time I entered high school, breaking down and analyzing all of the components of a novel in my English classes. The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger had always stood out to me because it was the first time I had ever felt so inside the mind of a character while still analyzing them from this outsider perspective that the character was completely oblivious to- I was amazed at Salinger’s talent to accomplish such a feat. 

The beauty of human connection that can be achieved through storytelling is what has always driven me to literature, and what pushes me now into the desire to work in the publication of this written art. Having recently acquired my bachelors degree in Literature and Writing Studies from the California State University of San Marcos, I spent most of my time in formal education studying the published works of many authors, and doing my best to embrace each story with an open mind; because even if I could not personally relate, I could try and understand. The opportunity to work with Words Alive in their admirable efforts to expand reading access to the youth of San Diego is an important feat for me, and one I am passionate towards. I know the power of stories and the effect they have had in my own life; I want to ensure that every child has that same opportunity to explore stories they can feel connected to as well. 

I am excited to pursue this passion here at Words Alive while also working towards my professional goals to begin a career in the book publishing industry. I know my work here will be a foundational start to my journey through the world of books, and those who create and consume them.  

Meet Our New Celebration Intern, Lily Chen!

We celebrate our newest addition to the Words Alive Team: our Celebration Intern, Lily Chen! Read on to learn more about Lily!

Lily remembers cultivating her love for reading and writing during her childhood as she spent hours reading alongside her older brother and endeavored to read all the same books as him, even if she wasn’t quite as able to keep up! As she studied literature/writing and Chinese Studies at UC San Diego, Lily also worked as a tutor for first-year students learning college-level writing. She not only found it rewarding to work with students individually and help them understand new concepts, but also came to realize the importance of good communication skills and power of reading in opening up a whole new wealth of knowledge. After graduating in 2020, she continues be a lifelong reader and learner and contributes her skills in communication and public affairs. We’re so glad to have her on the team!

In her free time, Lily likes reading, writing, playing video games with her friends and watching trashy reality TV. On the weekends, you can find her trying new coffee shops and restaurants in North Park or picking up new books at the library.

Here’s a few words from Lily!

How did you discover Words Alive? What drew you to interning/working here? 

I discovered Words Alive by looking up organizations around the San Diego area to volunteer with. I was drawn to the mission at Words Alive because I think the work we do here is incredibly crucial, especially in designing curriculum to include books that have good representation for the students. I also think that it’s so amazing that the volunteer count at Words Alive has exploded since the pandemic, with so many people from across the nation (and even world?) being able to support Words Alive virtually. 

What is your favorite aspect so far of the work you do?

It’s only my second week at Words Alive so far, but my favorite part of working here is the amazing staff. They’re so warm and welcoming and they all clearly love and support the mission so much. It’s inspiring to do work that helps people and with people who are passionate about it. 

What book or story has had a big impact on you? 

A book that has had a big impact on me is Draw Your Weapons by Sarah Sentilles. I read it during my senior year of college for my honors capstone course. This book introduced me to the concept of lyric essay and creative nonfiction, which inspired my own honors thesis later on. Sentilles herself was invited to speak with my class virtually and hearing her explain her reason to utilize the lyric essay format struck me. She likened it to how we as people absorb little bits of information from everything we do, read, or see, and all those tidbits come together to inform our thoughts. We are each a collection of everything that’s ever happened to us, and our thought process is anything but linear.  

The book relayed Sentilles’ own experiences, philosophical texts, and historical accounts to create a complex tapestry that delved into the intricacies of human survival. It wove together so many seemingly disparate threads into a cohesive, striking essay about violence, trauma, and the beauty of art in devastating times.  

What is your favorite recent read? 

“There she is, a human being, diving into the unknown, and she is wide awake.”

— Otessa Moshfegh, "My Year of Rest and Relaxation"

One of my favorite recent reads is My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Otessa Moshfegh. I know, a pretty controversial choice given the narrator's general terribleness, but something about the idea of being asleep for a whole year in a drugged out, fugue state seemed similar to how I was feeling about everything going on with the pandemic. Constantly bombarded with bad news and my own anxieties about an uncertain world wracked with tragedy, I could see the appeal of going to sleep for a while and hopefully waking up to a better place without having to deal with it head-on. The ending struck me hard emotionally, and I found myself carrying it with me days after.

Can you share a photo of something you love?

My two cats, Violet (the gray one) and Poppy (the orange one)!

---

We are so thankful to have Lily on our team! Are you interested in working with Words Alive? You can find open internship and employment opportunities here or click here to learn about how to volunteer with us!

Meet Our New Storytelling Intern, Gabby Villadolid!

Introducing another new addition to the Words Alive team: our spring Storytelling Intern, Gabby Villadolid! Read on to learn more about Gabby!

Gabby’s storytelling work at Words Alive combines her love of reading and writing and passion for social justice. She attended Loyola Marymount University in LA for a year before transferring to Georgetown University, where she studied various social issues intersecting gender, immigration, globalization, post-conflict justice and more as a Justice and Peace Studies major. Her involvement in literacy and nonprofits progressed from volunteering as at-home English tutor for a DC student with an immigrant background to interning at Ronald McDonald House Charities Philippines, which provided English and Filipino literacy programs to public elementary school partners throughout the archipelago. After graduating last year, Gabby is currently finishing up her fellowship research project on education and racial justice as she joins Words Alive virtually from the Bay Area!

Gabby’s dog, Max!

In her free time, Gabby loves playing with her senior dog Max; watching cooking videos; and expressing herself through makeup, fashion, and music! She sings everyday and hopes to improve her instrument playing and songwriting. A true introvert and story nerd, she is happiest while at home listening to her favorite musical artists or true crime podcasts, or just curling up in bed with a new novel or webcomic.

Now, here’s a few words from Gabby!

What drew you to intern at Words Alive?

Words Alive’s Storytelling internship just happened to marry all of my personal and post-grad, next-step professional interests into one! I wanted the opportunity to develop my writing skills in a communications role while engaging in social impact/justice work. I also attribute much of my educational and individual formation to geeking out on books and comics since I was young, so Words Alive’s mission to address systemic inequities by providing community reading programs really resonated with me. Lastly, conducting qualitative social science research in my undergrad taught me to fall in love with the impact and process of storytelling, so as soon as I saw the words “Storytelling Intern” on LinkedIn’s internship post I knew I had to sign up!

What is your favorite aspect of the work you do?

I am currently just starting out, but I really love how intentional Words Alive is with supporting one another as a team and implementing positive change by embodying it themselves in mindsets and actions. We just had a Board and Staff Retreat on Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility discussing the importance of using inclusive and asset-based language, and throughout the retreat I felt so lucky that I joined!

What book or story has had a big impact on you? Do you have a favorite quote?

“According to you, healing is a relationship between doctor and patient. ‘Di ba? Pero you’re wrong. Alam mo, healing? Ay mundo yan. It’s a world. So what you think about it matters. You’re involved.”

— Elaine Castillo, "America is Not the Heart"

Reading America Is Not the Heart by Elaine Castillo was so jarring because it was my first time reading a novel completely about modern Filipino-American characters—I could picture their stories so well because they either mirrored similar contexts and experiences in my own life or in the lives of other Filipinos, down to the very last detail. It taps into the nuances of Filipino and Filipino-American narratives of history, politics, and identity and how these manifest in the lives of protagonist Hero De Vera and her immigrant family coming to grips with their pasts and starting anew in Milpitas, California. As a second-generation Filipino-American immigrant born and raised in the Bay Area, I felt so affirmed reading about the De Veras’ struggles and resilience in valuing fluctuating meanings of home, family, and other cultural values. I also appreciate that this story provides representation for persons who identify as LGBTQ+!

What is your favorite recent read?

I actually picked up this book because it was on BookTok—The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. It’s about a woman named Nora who fatefully encounters the Midnight Library, a place between life and death where one has the chance to revisit and experience different life choices through reading the library’s infinite books, each containing an alternate life story for every possibility. I’m fascinated by the idea of parallel universes and found this story sobering, uplifting, all the good adjectives BookTok described it to be!

---

We are so excited to have Gabby on our team! Are you interested in working with Words Alive? You can find open internship and employment opportunities here or click here to learn about how to volunteer with us!

Meet Our New Page Turners Intern, Julie Chen!

We are ecstatic to welcome another awesome human to the Words Alive team: our new Page Turners Intern, Julie Chen! Read on to learn more about Julie!

Julie’s belief and motivation to make a positive impact through literacy and learning stem from her love of reading and her college journey. Before transferring to University of California San Diego (UCSD), Julie attended De Anza College in her Bay Area hometown where she witnessed secondhand the struggle of learning English as a second language as an English tutor. Wanting to pursue a major that would allow her to directly help others, Julie switched between English Literature, Business Psychology, and Education Studies majors throughout her college career before settling on a Psychology major with a Global Health minor. As a former English Major and now Page Turners Intern, Julie believes that reading is crucial not only for encouraging us to explore different worlds and empathize with the different experiences of others, but also for allowing us to feel less alone as we relate to characters whose worlds are similar to ours.

Additionally, as a second-year transfer student and current senior, Julie is set to graduate this Spring 2022! In her personal time, Julie is a self-proclaimed grandma at heart who loves knitting, embroidering, and hand weaving macrame pieces. She also enjoys researching and studying the craft of coffee-making due to working as a barista for the past six years! You might also catch her playing video games with friends or going on hikes as well.

Now, here’s a few words from Julie!

How did you discover Words Alive? What drew you to interning here?

I discovered Words Alive through a student organization at UCSD. I heard about the internship position during an orientation and decided to take the opportunity to learn about nonprofit work since that’s something I’m thinking of pursuing in my future. I was also drawn to the mission of spreading diversity and working to reduce the literacy gap in school children today.

What is your favorite aspect of the work you do? Do you have a fun memory that exemplifies this?

I love all the researching I do for my internship—mainly researching books. I didn’t realize how many books existed in the world until I started researching them (my list of books to read has reached new highs)! One of my best memories of working here was the first time I came to the office and got to browse the large inventory of books we have. I felt a sense of absolute amazement for the stellar work of our staff and volunteers after seeing those and the boxes of kits for the Read Aloud Program. Being able to see all their hard work in front of my eyes made me realize I truly found myself a spectacular program to be a part of.

What book or story has had a big impact on you?

For some reason I’m blanking on stories that I read and really left a big impact on me recently, but I guess the series that had the biggest impact overall was the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan. This series was what really captivated my love for reading when I was a child. It also ignited my love for Greek Mythology, and my imagination in the belief that demigods really do exist in our world.

What is your favorite recent read and quote?

“The internet is the flattening of time. It is the place where the past and present exist on one single plane. But proportionally, because the present calcifies into the past, even now, even as we speak, perhaps it is more accurate to say that the internet almost wholly consists of the past. It is the place we go to commune with the past.”

— Ling Ma, "Severence"

Currently I’m finishing Severence by Ling Ma. It’s a fun version of an apocalyptic world but not super dramatized like how it normally is in books or shows like “The Walking Dead.” It also jumps between pre- and post-apocalypse, so we get a glimpse at the main character’s life before the everything occurred. But the main reason why I’m really enjoying it is because the main character is a Chinese American girl living in New York in her early twenties and I resonate with a lot of the emotions she has being in that confusing age. It also has moments with profound philosophical thoughts of what it means to exist during a worldwide apocalypse, which is something we all can definitely resonate with at this time.

Can you share a photo of something you love?

Here’s my dog, Ellie and cat, Boba!

---

We are so excited to have Julie on our team! Are you interested in working with Words Alive? You can find open internship and employment opportunities here or click here to learn about how to volunteer with us!

The Words Alive Reader: September 23, 2020

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!

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 and Titiksha, Words Alive Storytelling Team

SNEAK PEEK: 2020 Annual Authors Event!

Text that reads: "Annual Authors Event: Featuring Ayad Akhtar in conversation with Dr. Seth Lerer” above a photo of Ayad and the cover of his book Homeland Elegies

We're so thrilled to announce the author for this year's (virtual) Authors Event & Fundraiser: Pulitzer Prize-winning author and playwright, Ayad Akhtar! 

Be on the lookout for an invitation—with links to a very special Authors Auction and Mission Marketplace—coming to your inbox very soon!

Books for Lindsay Community School

A woman holding up books stands next to boxes of books in front of a painting of a woman and the words Lindsay Community School.

We have been working with Lindsay Community School, a school dedicated to helping pregnant and parenting teens, for our entire 20+ year history! We recently donated books to Lindsay and were so happy to receive this wonderful response from Dawn Miller, Head Teacher!

"The girls and their children were THRILLED - what a beautiful collection of books! So exciting to see the students reading with their babies and children...Cannot thank you enough for helping us bring a little bit of joy to our families in these heavy times."

If you would like to support more collaborations like this one, you can donate to Words Alive here! 

Hello From Our New Storytelling Intern!

A picture of Zoe.

"Hi everyone! My name is Zoe and I am the Storytelling Intern at Words Alive. I have loved reading for as long as I can remember, and I'm so excited to share that love with others by telling the Words Alive story! If you're reading this newsletter, you have a unique perspective to share on what Words Alive brings to the world, and I want to hear all about it. You can reach me at [email protected]!"

Zoe got involved with Words Alive as a volunteer, like many of you! If you currently volunteer with us, we encourage you to add your volunteer position to your LinkedIn profile. Showcase your leadership skills and help us reach more people at the same time!

#WriteNow

Colorful balls of tissue paper representing emotions spread upward from a gray silhouette of a person in profile.

To help teens cope and connect with current events, we’ve started #WriteNow, a collection of writing prompts that provide inspiration in this difficult time. This week, we challenge teens to write a story in just ten sentences, ask them to think about the emotions they’re dealing with right now, and encourage them to reflect on how they handle conflicts.

Check out our latest prompts:

1. 10-Sentence Story

2. Emotions in Common

3. A Call for Equity

Now in 9 Languages!

Text that reads: “Help us support literacy in families’ home languages!” above images of literacy resources in Spanish, Arabic, and Haitian Creole.

Words Alive is now providing resources for students and families in 9 different languages: English, Spanish, Farsi, Arabic, Haitian Creole, Burmese, Karen, Amharic, and Portuguese! We want to ensure that we are supporting and providing curriculum to families in their home languages.

Are you interested in helping even more families build healthy reading habits and skill sets? Volunteer as a translator for our Translation Station! To learn more, visit our website. 

Donate Here to Support Words Alive!