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.
- Eli and Titiksha, Words Alive Volunteers
Back to School!
A young girl smiles and holds a backpack. Text above the photo reads, “Reagan got her Words Alive backpack! She is so excited!”
As schools begin to re-open, we want to remind you that Words Alive is here to help! Even through unprecedented challenges, we were able to serve 3,280 students and families last school year, and we will continue to do so while adapting our programming into virtual or hybrid models.
One of our core values is responsiveness. We are dedicated to listening to community needs and developing innovative solutions. Would you like to help us as we journey into new adventures this school year? Sign up for one of our Virtual Best Practices Trainings to learn all the skills you need to volunteer in remote classrooms!
New Story Station Conductors!
Pictures of Sandy, Jim, and Gina reading aloud on Story Station!
We've been hosting Words Alive Story Station on Facebook Live every week day since the pandemic hit to spread joy, and engage our little learners with fun and inspiring stories that the whole family can enjoy. Now, we're happy to welcome new Story Station Conductors to our team!
Volunteers Sandy, Jim, and Gina are positive reading role models to the 10,000+ kids, families, and classrooms that viewed their Story Station videos in just their first week as Conductors. Join us for Story Station at 2 p.m. PT every weekday on Facebook Live: @WordsAliveSD.
Creative Collaborations!
A screenshot from of one of our Zoom trainings!
By the end of September, we will have trained seven community organizations to deliver the three Words Alive core programs! By providing training, curriculum, books, and supplies, we're making sure that organizations like United Way of San Diego, City Heights CDC, Project Concern International, Groundwork San Diego, Oceanside Public Library, and more are able to connect 300 students in their communities to the power of reading.
Another one of our values is collaboration and in these extraordinary times, we need to support one another more than ever. Help support our efforts to train even more organizations by donating today!
The Life Cycle of a Page Turners Book
An infographic that displays the life cycle of a Page Turners book: from UNKNOWN to UPLIFTING. (1) a stack of books with a question mark; (2) a girl reading (3) a girl typing at her laptop (4) a girl hugging a stack of books.
Since January, our volunteer-led, ever-growing Page Turners community has helped us identify a whopping 28 books that reflect our students' lived experiences to include in Words Alive programming. How does it work?
A new and promising book is brought to our attention.
Page Turners read and let us know if it's a good fit for our students.
Books that receive multiple glowing reviews are passed on to our Curriculum Crew, volunteers who produce high-quality curriculum guides for the book.
Curriculum is taught in partner schools and sites, introducing students to empowering, entertaining, and engaging books that they can relate to, igniting their love of reading and setting them up for success!
Want to join the Page Turners community? Sign up here!