Dear <<First Name>>,
Happy February! Since the last newsletter in late-November, tons of Kindles have arrived, thousands of dollars have rolled in, and new teachers and students have joined the KCP. It's a very exciting time!
The KCP now serves 688 students and 16 teachers in 5 schools in the San Francisco Bay Area.
This Month’s KCP Highlights
- The KCP has grown by 82 Kindles over the past 6 weeks. January's total of 47 surpassed the previous record of 32 set last year. So far in February, 35 Kindles have arrived, annihilating the previous record of 12, also set last year. This is unprecedented!
Donors include: Norman (Las Vegas, NV), Nora (Doral, FL), Deborah (Lexington, MA), Dale (Atlanta, GA), Chris (Montgomery Village, MD), Kylie (Albuquerque, NM), Catherine (San Francisco, CA), Lori (Oceanside, CA), Kerry (Marina, CA), Sandy (Morris, IL), Miguel (San Juan, PR), Robin (East Stroudsburg, PA), Judy (San Ramon, CA), Mike (Columbus, IN), Kelly (San Francisco, CA), Cheryl (Boxford, MA), Kathy (Pleasant Hill, CA), Igor (Columbus, OH), Sandy (Reno, NV), David (Los Gatos, CA), Amy (Palo Alto, CA), Brian (Leesburg, VA), Lynell (Manchester, CT), Nancy (Chicago, IL), Michael (Danville, CA), Rich (San Francisco, CA), Sharon (Algonac, MI), Stephanie (New York, NY), Jim (Sun Lakes, AZ), Ralph (San Francisco, CA), Leesa (Rancho Mirage, CA), Alex (South Portland, ME), Beatrice (Naples, FL), Vivane (Piermont, NY), Jean (Islip, NY), Jesica (Gig Harbor, WA), Jan (Westport, CT), Bryan (Schenectady, NY), Paul (Bristol, WI), Dave (Oakland, CA), Taylor (Erie, PA), Jessica (Knoxville, TN), Caroline (Somerville, MA), Linda (Roseville, CA), Kate (Dayton, ME), Peter (San Francisco, CA), Eleanor (Bellevue, WA), Christine (Herndon, VA), Sandra (Dallas, TX), Rosalie (Melrose Park, IL), Mark (La Jolla, CA), Gay (Flemington, NJ), and Christine (Olympia, WA). Wow!
- More Kindles = New Teachers = New Students. Let's welcome Oakland teachers Samantha, Matt, Jessi, Brittany, and Robb to the KCP! They're doing a great job helping their 100+ students to get acquainted with their new Kindles. (And yes, I'm still recruiting new teachers!)
- The KCP Podcast, Reader to Reader, is back! Here I am interviewing Tamera, a KCP student in Oakland. Click here or on the photo below to listen to the interview.
- Donations for books have been streaming in! Since December, 10 generous people have pledged $4,580, plenty enough for students to request books through June. I'd like to thank Bob (Kirkland, WA), Susan (Castle Rock, CO), Brian (Leesburg, VA), DSW (Saratoga, CA), Elder Family Foundation (Berkeley, CA), Erin (San Jose, CA), Lori (Oceanside, CA), Jamie (Oakland, CA), Stuart (New York, NY), and Iris (San Diego, CA). Brian, Stuart, Iris, and Lori became sustaining donors by making recurring monthly reading allowances.
- The Kindle Library now stands at 669 titles, and its online version is up to date, thanks to kind volunteers! Students continue to request books left and right, and I can honor their reading wishes because the program has generous donors. A few student favorites are Wild Crush, by Simone Elkeles; Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes; and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot.
Students request their books on the program website, kindleclassroomproject.org (thank you, Brandon!). Up until a few weeks ago, the library on the website did not include all the books available on the student Kindles. But then a committed and generous team donated their time on a beautiful weekend day, and everything is in sync now! Thank you to Gail (Greenbrae, CA), Sophie (San Francisco, CA), Wenner (San Francisco, CA), Jessica (San Francisco, CA), Peter (San Francisco, CA), Marni (San Francisco, CA), Barbara (Oakland, CA), Nicole (Oakland, CA), and Tim (San Francisco, CA).
Next Steps for the KCP
- A short film about the program is coming out! San Francisco filmmaker Katie Buono interviewed and got footage of three San Francisco ninth graders last week. Pretty soon, a video introducing the KCP will be out for everyone to view! Thank you very much, Katie!
- All students will be able to keep their Kindles over the summer this year! Last year, there was a successful pilot, where 50 students read on their Kindles over the summer. Because it was a big hit, I’m opening up the program to all KCP teachers and students. I can't wait to see what happens when ~700 students have access to Kindles over the summer!
- More next steps: (1) building the website, (2) encouraging generous donors to make contributions to promote reading and to honor student book requests, (3) giving all ninth graders a Kindle at three schools in 2016-17, (4) apply for 501c3 nonprofit status, (5) reaching 750 Kindles and 750 e-books by April. It's going to be a busy Spring!
Thank you again for all your support. Have a wonderful month. If you like, please reply to this email and let me know your thoughts!
Happy reading,
Mark Isero, KCP Founder
Now reading: The Education of Kevin Powell, by Kevin Powell
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