CLICK
HERE
Give us your name, your school address, and tell us whether you
are signing up as a Write-A-Thon School in Deed or as an outlet
to reach Kids in Need or both. Here are some definitions.
What are the definitions of Write-A-Thon Schools in Deed,
Reaching Kids in Need and both?
WRITE-A-THON SCHOOL IN DEED
If you are a Write-A-Thon School in Deed, it means that you’re
interested in hosting a WRITE-A-THON at your school. You may live
anywhere in the United States. You might be a public school, a
private school, a charter school, a parochial school, consortium
of home-schools, a library reading group, a religious organization,
a parent-child book group, or some group we’ve yet to hear
about. Maybe you’re doing a lesson in Creative Writing or
in serving underprivileged communities or both.
KIDS IN NEED
If you are a need-based school or organization in Florida who
serves Kids in Need, then you are eligible for free books and
author visits. A Title I school, for example, is a perfect outlet
for us as they serve a lot of Kids in Need. For a look at how
the program started and poverty in Florida, please read the
"Dear Friends" letter by clicking here.
For now, we are starting with the needs of Floridians and hope
to grow to meet needs all over the country. Click
here to see the spotlight on the current Kids in Need who
are going to be receiving free books and author visits.
There
are three promises that participating programs receiving free
books and author visits must be willing to make.
1. Before the author’s visit, students have to have been
read aloud at least the first chapter of one of the author’s
books.
2. After the visit, the school has to be willing to use the creative
writing prompts for the Write-A-Thon so that your students are
also writing their own stories. If they create enough creative
pages then they can ensure future author visits for future kids
in their school or program, and they can get free books for their
library.
3. The students as a group are expected to write a thank you of
some sort that we can put up on the web site to show authors,
the foundation, and our donors.
BOTH A SCHOOL IN DEED AND REACHING KIDS IN NEED
What if you are a school that has a diverse socio-economic population
and you serve a high number of students who live below the poverty
level, but also a high number of students who could support a
Write-A-Thon without creating a burden on families? There’s
a way to host a program and to have your own lower-income students
benefit from your own fundraising efforts. To qualify for this,
you have to be a Florida school.
SIGN UP NOW: CLICK HERE.
TELL US YOUR SCHOOL OR ORGANIZATION'S NAME, ADDRESS AND WHETHER
YOU ARE A WRITE-A-THON SCHOOL IN DEED, REACHING KIDS IN NEED,
OR BOTH.
_________________________________________
KIDS
IN NEED – BOOKS IN DEED IS COMMITTED TO:
1.
Promoting reading and writing--education and the imagination.
When children create a character, they are learning empathy. When
they are plotting a story, they are learning strategic thought.
When they are inventing what might happen next, they are developing
their imaginations. When they are putting one word in front of
the next, they are understanding, deeply, their language and finding
their own voice. Reading and writing expand our worlds.
2. Getting free books into the homes
of underprivileged kids. Having books in the home is a primary
indicator of literacy. (For some of these students, this will
be the first book they’ve ever owned. The fact that it is
inscribed to them and signed by the author makes it all the more
personal and valued.)
3. Bringing living and breathing
authors to kids. Books are not born from bookshelves. Writers
use words to invent worlds. We want to create that magical moment
when the writer brings the book to life, breaking down the wall
between author and reader. Having authors talk to students about
their childhoods, their creative processes, their imaginations,
allows students to understand that they, too, have a voice and
that there is value and power in writing down their own stories.
4. Promoting community service.
Students participating in the Write-A-Thon know that their imaginative
efforts are going to a good cause. The web site spotlights the
Kids in Need that the books and authors are going to. With statistics
alongside pictures alongside personal anecdotes, we hope that Write-A-Thon
students can get a real sense of the kids they’re helping
and a real sense of purpose. We hope that kids receiving free
books and author visits are inspired in this process by a greater
sense of community that reaches beyond the boundaries of their
neighborhoods and schoolyards. They, too, will have the opportunity
to be generous by using their imaginative power writing stories
to ensure author visits for the future students of their school
and to build up their school library.
