One last piece of news: Some of you may recall that in my last update I had the audacity to ask for free office space within one block of 826 Seattle. Our staff is growing, as are our student numbers, and it simply gets too noisy to work. Now, I often ask for small things with these updates, but I’ve never asked for something as grandiose as office space. And guess what: Chad Dale has been reading my updates for years and he happens to own the building down the street which houses The Greenwood Collective. Folks who need a place to work with Internet connections and who don’t want to be relegated to renting and furnishing a whole office space or, conversely, hanging out all the time in coffee shops, can buy memberships to this really terrific space which has desk space and the aforementioned Internet and a wall covered in paint-by-numbers and even a tiki bar. And, it happens to be one-half block from our place. And we didn’t even know it existed. Check it out: http://greenwoodcollective.com/. If they have any memberships left, you could be happily working alongside Justin, Yoko or myself…all of us sneak down on occasion and would be happy to share the big work table with you.
And Last-But-Not-Least:
For those of you out there who love 826 Seattle and early morning breakfasts downtown and know at least nine people who care about children and writing and have (at least) $100 to donate to a very worthy cause while eating a delicious (free to them) breakfast:
We are searching for Table Captains for our fourth annual “Don’t Forget To Write (A Check) fundraising breakfast. We (humbly) think this could be the best fundraising breakfast in town. This year could be the best with special keynote speaker Michael Chabon. (Yes, that Michael Chabon.) and special appearances by my chickens. (Chickens...Eggs...Writing. Yes, there is a connection.) Send me a note if you want to hear more:
teri@826seattle.org
Hello 826 Seattle Fans, This month, we’re coming to you live from Michigan, where most of the 826 Seattle staff is attending the annual 826 National Staff Retreat. Every year people from 826s around the country get together to share ideas about everything from field trips to fundraising. Because there are seven chapters around the country, we rotate the location of the retreat. Given that situation, I’m hopeful that future chapters will open in Tuscany and Rio de Janeiro (although for the record, Ann Arbor is a darn lovely little city). First off: While I was hoping to announce in this update (with many exclamation points and hurrahs) that we had won the vote for the $100,000 education grant from the Washington Women’s Foundation, I have to break the news that we were one of two finalists … but we did not win the vote. We had applied for help with a project we’ve been dreaming of doing with Broadview Thomson School up the street. It involves helping them with a targeted group of 3rd, 4th and 5th graders, creating a Writers’ Room on site, some publishing of their work, and a way to have our team of volunteers helping those students on a regular basis. I realized after I got the call about not receiving the grant that I was genuinely feeling just dandy at coming so close to this coveted award the very first time we had ever applied for it. Besides: We “lost” to a very worthy organization called College Access Now, which helps economically disadvantaged students get into college. I mean, if we’re going to lose, it’s good to lose to a great organization. I am basically a very competitive person who loves (and I mean loves) to win. Consequently, I spent weeks studying our competition’s website and asking people about them and trying to convince myself we had the edge. With this tresearch, I truly realized they are doing great work and I’ve been forced into the role of “good sport”…. Hats off to College Access Now or “CAN” which is what we folks call them who have spent weeks spying on them. (Bad Pun: If CAN CAN get the grant this year, I think we CAN get it next year….don’t you?) Writing a large grant can be a ton of work, and in the course of it, we solidified our connection with our neighborhood school, Broadview Thomson. If we don’t find funding for the large project we’ve been envisioning, we are certainly jazzed about beginning parts of the project, specifically working with a small group of identified students who really need our help. Washington Women’s Foundation hasn’t seen the last of us and, if you can’t tell, we’re patting ourselves on the back for getting as close as we did. Since my last update we’ve had two book parties to celebrate our newest publication: What It Takes: Stories of Bravery. This is our final publishing project with Hamilton International Middle School, marking the end of our two-year collaboration. I have to say, the party at Hamilton was a wonderful event. Half of the students we’ve been working with come from immigrant families, and we made a special effort to include them. The school staff was a terrific help in that regard, not only helping us get the families there but also providing interpreters so families also could appreciate the students reading their work on stage. Also, there was an awards ceremony. Samar (our Programs Manager) created certificates and gifts for those luminaries who worked so hard to help see this book project to fruition, including Sheila, the school secretary, and Bill, who manages our publishing projects, students who were especially helpful, and volunteers who were especially terrific and… you get the picture. There was a lot of clapping. We had a second publishing party at 826 Seattle since a few of the students in the publication were students from a workshop created on the same theme. There was the usual hilarity, touching readings, students signing books and cupcakes. We are nothing without our cupcakes. 
Our annual talent show, Tutor Idol happened right on schedule. Competition was heavy for both categories: the tutors and the students – but when all the dust settled Lara aced the Student Idol part of the event by leading everyone in singing “Lean On Me” (imagine a 9-year-old, microphone in hand, leading a roomful of adults and kids in a singalong) and there was a tie for Tutor Idol between Rebecca Brinson who crocheted and Raphaela who told improv jokes. Breanah and I were both rather sore losers, licking our wounds together in the back room and marveling that, once again, her special song and my speed typing did not manage to even get into the finals. (Apparently, if the WWF application is any indication, my ability to write a good grant far surpasses my ability to speed-type chicken jokes.) Breanah and I are thinking of collaborating and spending the entire school year practicing something that will certainly get both of us the coveted chocolate prize donated from our sweet neighbors at Chocolati.
Tutor Idol was followed by our second annual family potluck which was especially loud this year and full of fabulous food. The potluck was scheduled from 5 to 7 p.m. I didn’t need to panic like I did when nothing had arrived by 6:30 except 12 bags of chips (which the kids quickly inhaled), but I thought: oh dear: no adults are coming and we have no more food, so I asked Debra (Parent, Hero) to race out to buy tubs of chicken. Right when she returned, the other parents started to arrive (at 6:45) with stir-fried rice from Justin’s mom and a wonderful fruit salad from Diana and Leonardo’s mother and lasagna from Mrs. Solomon and vegetable trays … and then Damtew Asefa brought the cake he always brings and everyone fights over. The evening was a total success even though the students ate cake and chips and, as a result, were extremely noisy and bouncy. So, Tutor Idol marks the beginning of summer for us. It’s like the first snow for winter or Labor Day for fall. Tutor Idol meant that up next was the 826 National Staff Retreat (right now) to be followed by summer workshops. Check out the list (
Delectable Characters and the Zombies Who Feast on Their Brains
Write Poems That Sing Songs of Yourself! and Dear Future Me: The Time Capsule Project Another sign of summer: extended store hours for The Greenwood Space Travel Supply Co. Here are the hours for the month of July (effective 6/29 - 8/2):
Monday: 3-6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday: closed 
That’s it. Happy Summer! Teri |