December Newsletter
Dear Community,
As 2020 and the fall semester comes to a close, we are reflecting on the challenges, successes, and innovations of this unprecedented year. We invite you to read our 2019-20 Annual Report and this reflection from Kathy Thomforde, 826 MSP's 2016-2020 board chair.
Kathy has led our organization through many transitions (including three name changes!) and so much positive growth. We are grateful for her leadership, her commitment to our mission, and how much time she has contributed in working directly with our young writers. We also want to thank three other outgoing board members: Mary Burnton, Matt Mithun, and Jennifer Thao.
We send gratitude to our students and their families, 84 volunteers, 13 board members, two interns, our teacher/school partners, our donors, and all the local artists who have helped us re-imagine our programming this fall. To support this work, we invite you to make an end-of-year gift to 826 MSP by December 31.
See you in 2021!
-the 826 MSP crew
Honoring 2016-2020 Board Chair, Kathy Thomforde
"I have vivid memories of that morning on Wednesday, October 21st, 2015. Driving to a commercial building on University Avenue in Saint Paul, I was a little skeptical, wondering what this 'field trip' experience could possibly be. Shortly after I had entered this delightful space with a submarine and seafaring motif, a busload of excited elementary students burst through the front door. Magic was what happened next. Photos were taken for the book cover, settings were created, and characters came to life through words and illustration. At the end of two hours, each student left as a proud author with a published work! And my heart had been captured: hook, line, and sinker!
By February 2016, I had joined the board of directors at Mid-Continent Oceanographic Institute (formerly known as Rock Star Supply Company). In December of that year, I became board chair. Since then, the board has overseen the creation of a strategic plan through 2020, hired a fabulous executive director named Samantha Sencer-Mura, moved to an amazing new location in Minneapolis, and became a chapter of the 826 National network. Whew! We have witnessed growth in all dimensions: in the number of students served through new and expanded programs, in our annual budgets and dollars raised, and in the dedicated staff and volunteers who make it all happen.
But as my term as board chair comes to an end this month, this is not what touches me the most on a personal level. It’s the students I have encountered as a program volunteer who have taught me so much about what’s important in life. I remember a September meeting with Selama, a student in our after-school program, exclaiming that how could she have grown taller than me over the summer?!? I can still see the pride and joy reflected on the faces of students who participated in our Young Authors' Book Project, as they autographed copies of the book they had written. Even the most reticent and reluctant students could not contain their excitement in becoming a published author. I remember helping Mohammed, a sophomore in high school studying geometry, with his homework on similar triangles. All math and science tutors were busy with other students at that moment, and when I first approached him, Mohammed was quite skeptical about this grandma’s ability to help him with similar triangles. After reviewing some examples, we quickly went to work in solving the assigned problems. As we finished, Mohammed asked me, 'How long has it been since you studied geometry?' I replied, as nonchalantly as possible, 'Oh, about 45 years…' And I recall that day when a student named Roman was thrilled to contribute money he had earned as a dog walker in gratitude for project assistance he had received in our after-school program.
Most importantly, my eyes have been more fully opened to the impact of systemic racism in our education system and in society overall. I cannot forget the pain and fear revealed in the writing of a young Somali woman who wants the world to know she is not a terrorist. Our students were traumatized by the murder of George Floyd in their own neighborhood earlier this year. 826 MSP responded with a promise to be 'unapologetically antiracist' in all that we do moving forward. We are each called to acknowledge our own responsibility in creating and perpetuating these systems, followed by a commitment to sustained action in dismantling them. Our youth deserve nothing less."
- Kathy Thomforde, 2016-2020 Board Chair for 826 MSP
Student Spotlight
Current 826 MSP intern and former South High student/Writers' Room Advisory Council member, Chriz, reflecting on our programming.
Check out our 2019-20 Annual Report!
See the full report here, or download a PDF version. Design by Hannah Hiler. Most photos by John Schaidler.
Upcoming Events
Volunteer appreciation virtual game night December 17, 6-7:30.
Zoom party for ASWL students December 18, 4-5.
Drive-thru chapbook release party December 19, 12-3.
826 MSP is closed for winter break December 21 - January 1.
Last day to make an end-of-year gift to 826 MSP is December 31!
New volunteer orientation January 5, 5-6:30. Email Ellen to RSVP!
New volunteer orientation January 7, 4-5:30. Email Ellen to RSVP!
New volunteer orientation January 12, 7-8:30. Email Ellen to RSVP!
New volunteer orientation January 21, 6-7:30. Email Ellen to RSVP!
New volunteer orientation January 22, 3-4:30. Email Ellen to RSVP!
