The Words Alive Reader: May 18, 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!

Author Adib Khorram Visits Words Alive Students

A picture of author Adib Khorram, next to the cover of his book Darius the Great is Not Okay.

"Sometimes you're afraid to start a story because it's getting at something that you don't want to share. My advice is to be brave and take it a little at a time." — Adib Khorram to Words Alive high school students

Acclaimed young adult author Adib Khorram recently visited one of our partner classrooms at San Ysidro High School to share his story and chat with students. Thank you to SYHS for partnering with us, to Adib for stopping by for a visit, and to the Words Alive volunteer who sponsored this experience for our students! Learn more about what Adib shared with our students and how they reacted here.

Plot Twist: Meher Gandhi

A picture of Meher Gandhi, our Engagement Volunteer of the Year.

Meet Meher Gandhi, an amazing Words Alive volunteer who supports us all the way from her home in India! She was recently named our Engagement Volunteer of the Year.

We talked to Meher about her love for literature, her experiences in volunteer leadership, and her international perspective on working together for literacy.

"We are really giving something to the community...not just in words, but in actions," she says. Read more here!

Oceanside Community Foundation Grants Words Alive $20,000

A screenshot from a Family Literacy Program session on Zoom. The kids are holding up their crafts to the camera.

Words Alive is partnering with the Oceanside Community Foundation to deliver our Family Literacy Program in the Oceanside community – connecting young children and families to the power of reading through play. So far, approximately 180 families have participated in this program year. Now, we are excited and grateful to share that the Oceanside Community Foundation has granted us $20,000 to expand our work in Oceanside with teen programming! The Oceanside Community Foundation has been an extremely supportive partner at every step of the process, and we are thrilled to continue working together.

Meet Our New Engagement Director, Alyssa Broda

A picture of Alyssa standing in front of a colorful mural that reads “You Are Radiant! Yes, You.”

We are so excited to announce the latest addition to the Words Alive team: our new Engagement Director, Alyssa Broda! ​​​​​​​

Alyssa is a dynamic fundraising professional with over 10 years of experience in the nonprofit sphere. Here at Words Alive, Alyssa is working towards helping the organization reach new levels of engagement amongst donors and volunteers.
Read more about her and what she’s bringing to Words Alive here! 

Mental Health Month: Art & Lit

In honor of Mental Health Month, here are two ways that you can explore the connections between reading, art, education, and mental health with us.

1) Ben, a Words Alive volunteer and high school student, wrote a piece for our blog about how the pandemic has affected student mental health. Read the full blog post here.

2) With the trauma of the past year in mind, our Art & Lit project, created in partnership with ArtReach, was designed to help students explore mindfulness, emotional awareness, and belonging through connection with reading and art. This year, for the first time ever, the whole community can participate! Learn more here.

An example of this year’s Art & Lit Project: an identity circle drawn with red and gray markers.

Missed the Volunteer Appreciation Celebration?

The Words Alive logo, the words “12th Annual Volunteer Appreciation Celebration, Presented By” and the EY logo.

Did you miss our 12th Annual Volunteer Appreciation Celebration? Don't worry — we recorded it! Through our virtual program, you can watch the recording, hear from our presenting sponsor, EY, read about the incredible volunteers who were recognized at the Celebration, download special Words Alive bookmarks, and more.

We are so grateful to each and every one of our volunteers for helping us connect children, teens, and families to the power of reading. If you'd like to become a volunteer, click here to learn more. 

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

Author Adib Khorram Visits Words Alive Students at San Ysidro High School

A picture of Adib next to the cover of his first book, Darius the Great is Not Okay.

Acclaimed young adult author Adib Khorram recently visited one of our partner classrooms at San Ysidro High School to share his story and chat with students! Thanks to a Words Alive volunteer who donated through last year’s Author’s Auction, high school students who have been reading Adib’s first book, Darius the Great is Not Okay, were able to meet him and ask questions. With humor and honesty, Adib shared insights about his path to becoming an author, struggles with mental health, the importance of representation and diversity in books, and of course, the power of reading and writing with our students.

When he was a student himself, Adib said, "All the books we read were really boring books about rich, straight, White people finding ways to have problems." When he first started writing, this pattern appeared in his own work, too.

"I didn't realize that you were allowed to write about other people," he said.

It wasn't until the We Need Diverse Books movement started in 2014 that he began to ask himself, "What's a book that only I could write?"

Darius the Great is Not Okay grew out of Adib’s own experiences growing up in diaspora as an Iranian-American, being a queer boy who didn’t line up with other people’s expectations of masculinity, and living with depression. He wanted to write a story that was authentic to his own lived experience.

As he shared these experiences, Adib was candid about the struggles he's faced and the nonlinear journey he took to becoming an author. He assured students that it's okay to not have everything together.

"My life has basically been a long series of 'This seems like a good idea...on second thought, maybe not,'" he said, laughing. "I'm a disaster, but I'm also still a functioning member of society, and I feel like people need to know that you can be both!"

Though the experiences themselves may have been difficult, telling these stories has been a powerful path to healing.

"Writing's a lot cheaper than therapy," he joked. "Writing about the things that hurt me, that made me afraid, that made me nervous, and finding out that other people felt the same way and that it resonated with them, makes me feel a lot less lonely."

Ultimately, his hope is that reflecting on the difficult experiences he’s had through writing helps his readers with the challenges they face in their own lives.

"Part of my job as a writer of young adult books is to make the world better for young adults," he said simply.

Students had lots of questions after hearing Adib share. They asked everything from “Why does Darius go into so much detail about things like tea and Star Trek?” to “How has the pandemic affected you?” to “How are you able to be so open about vulnerable parts of yourself?”

When one student asked how to overcome the uncertainty that comes with writing a story for the first time, Adib had this to say:

"Sometimes you're afraid to start a story because it's getting at something that you don't want to share. My advice is to be brave and take it a little at a time. Sometimes we don't want to start a story because we're not ready, and then it's important to be gentle with yourself until you're ready. Sometimes it's hard because starting is hard and a blank page is scary. I'm a big fan of just writing something, letting it be crappy, and then it's something that you can fix instead of start."

And if all else fails?

"Laying down on the ground bemoaning existence is good too," he said with a smile.

We're so thankful for this opportunity to partner with San Ysidro High School and grateful to Adib for stopping by for a visit! If you’d like to make more partnerships like this one possible, click here to learn more.

The Words Alive Reader: January 20, 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!

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

Farmers is Matching the Next $5,000 Raised

A graphic that says “Become a Champion for Words Alive This Winter!” above the Champions for Youth logo.

Just announced: Farmers Insurance will be matching the next $5,000 we raise in our campaign! This means that if you give now, your gift will go farther than ever. Not only will a $10 donation become $20, it will also move us ahead in the competition for up to $40,000 in bonus funding from The Century Club of San Diego and Farmers Insurance.

Since December, 22 incredible champions have already helped us engage 253 donors, raising $20,000 of our $30,000 goal! We have two weeks left to raise as much as we can. Donate today to take advantage of the match and make the biggest impact with your gift.

Melinda Wynar, Community Champion

We're proud to announce that Melinda Wynar, one of our volunteers, has recently been recognized by Molina Healthcare as a Community Champion for her leadership and service to our community! Over the last 6 years, Melinda has been a dedicated volunteer for many different Words Alive initiatives, from the Read Aloud Program to the Authors Auction, and her commitment to her community continues to shine through her actions every day. We're so grateful for Melinda! Read more about her in our most recent blog post.

Volunteers Needed: Work Directly with Families and Kids!

A screenshot of one of our programs taking place over Zoom.

Interested in working directly with families and young students? Sign up to help with the Family Literacy Program! Beginning in February, we need small group facilitators to lead activities with families in breakout rooms, English/Spanish bilingual lead facilitators, and volunteers experienced with Zoom to support facilitators and participants during the sessions. Help families build healthy reading habits through sharing and exploring stories together! Email our Volunteer Coordinator, Robyn Grand, if you are interested.

Learning Kits for Monarch School

An image of the supplies going into the kits: colored pencils, scissors, glue sticks, erasers, and more.

We're partnering with Monarch School to create and deliver 350 learning kits to their students! Monarch is a wonderful school here in San Diego that exclusively serves youth experiencing homelessness. 

As part of an all-school reading initiative focused on mental health and well-being students from all grades will receive books and activities, including a guide on how to talk, write, and connect about what they are reading with their families. They will also receive supplies to participate in our upcoming Art & Lit project! We are excited to be working with such a wide range of ages to extend our programming across the whole school. 

Want to support even more students with at-home learning? We need volunteers based in San Diego to help us assemble crafts that accompany the stories children are reading! Email our Volunteer Coordinator, Robyn Grand, to learn more. 

Help Us Provide Books to San Ysidro High School

The covers of the books The Radius of Us by Marie Marquardt, Internment by Samira Ahmed, and The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates by West More.

Last week, we officially started an exciting partnership between San Ysidro High School and Words Alive! We are training educators at the school to (virtually) implement Adolescent Book Group at their campus. Through this partnership, we will be engaging 350 high school students with a book-club style discussion of three powerful novels: The Radius of Us, Internment, and The Other Wes Moore.

In order for us to give books to all of the students, we still need 175 copies of each of the three titles. If you would like to provide a high schooler with books they can read, love, and take home to keep, click here. We thank you for your support!

Join Words Alive at This Year’s SDIJFF

A graphic that says “31st annual SDIJFF: February 11-21, 2021; screenings from the comfort of your home.”

Words Alive is excited to announce that we are a community partner for the 31st Annual San Diego International Jewish Film Festival. This year’s festival will include not only over 36 films to enjoy virtually, but also more than 20 on-demand films available from February 11-21, 2021, all from the comfort of your own home. By using our code WORDS21, you can get $2 off an individual ticket purchase at lfjcc.org/film. Invite your friends and family for 11 days of film celebration and festivities. We hope to see you there!

Donate here to support Words Alive!