By Brandon Conda, Words Alive Storytelling Intern
In March 2025, Words Alive successfully delivered books to over 2,300 students located in 23 Title I elementary schools throughout San Diego County. Our Read Aloud Program’s spring book giveaway enhanced reading skills and habits while exposing young readers to meaningful and diverse stories. More than 20 volunteers played an essential role by delivering books and learning kits to classrooms across the region, from Escondido to National City. A total of 2,580 books and learning kits reached their destination, with two additional copies included in each box to guarantee both classrooms and libraries received these essential materials.
The story Wepa by J. de la Vega served as the book choice for this initiative because its bilingual English-Spanish narrative and depiction of ADHD reflects the lived experiences of many young San Diegans. The choice to showcase Wepa stemmed from its strong ties to local community members and its ability to connect deeply with students' personal experiences. Wepa narrates a child's journey to understanding life through ADHD and highlights both obstacles and successes in accepting distinct personal qualities. The book’s themes matched Words Alive’s dedication to providing children with diverse and inclusive stories.
Students also received learning kits with craft materials so they could produce art projects to bring themes of the book alive. The kits contained cardboard paper, paint, googly eyes, and forks to produce various textures and patterns of paint. The practical activity empowered students to engage more deeply with the book while giving them the chance to be creative and connect with the story's message.
Words Alive provides books and activities for families with the objective of promoting literacy beyond the classroom and establishing sustainable community impact. Words Alive volunteers introduced the class to the book through an engaging, interactive read-aloud session and gifted each child their own copy of the book paired with a tie-in learning kit. The joyful learning experiences continued at home when children shared their art with their families, read the book with their younger relatives, and delved into the learning kit’s extension activities with their families.
The choice of Wepa arose from a collaboration with the book’s art director, scheduled to speak at Valencia Park Elementary in April. By helping students connect with the real people who create their stories, we expand their learning about the literary world while encouraging them to envision themselves as story creators.
Words Alive can only reach 5,000 children, teens, and families each year with the support of our amazing team of volunteers. We are incredibly grateful to all the volunteers who stepped up to deliver new books and learning resources to our partner schools in San Diego’s historically disinvested neighborhoods. Literacy - and delivering thousands of books per year - is truly a team effort!