The W.K. Kellogg Foundation supports educational programming with $250,000 grant
First Book, a national nonprofit that expands educational opportunities for children in under-resourced communities, and The Moth, a global leader in the art and craft of personal storytelling, are launching an unprecedented national partnership to empower children and educators in low-income communities to use the power of storytelling to enrich classrooms and fuel literacy and the joy of reading. The new initiative, made possible by an 18-month grant of $250,000 from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, will draw on The Moth’s successful storytelling education programs to elevate the voices and experiences of the more than 600,000 educators and 6.5 million children and young people served by First Book.
“Stories are a powerful tool for change – shifting narratives, informing policy, sharing the human experience, and elevating literacy and language development,” said Kyle Zimmer, First Book President and CEO. “This partnership will enable all those working and volunteering in under-resourced communities – voices rarely heard in popular discourse today – to share the realities they face in classrooms and programs every day, and the challenges facing their students. This will enable us to develop solutions that address the real issues. For students, the art of effective storytelling not only boosts literacy, communication, and emotional resilience, it also imparts skills that empower a generation. We are so grateful to the Kellogg Foundation for supporting this innovative opportunity and we are excited to bring the extraordinary expertise of The Moth to thousands of young people nationwide.”
“Strong storytelling skills help children build confidence, strengthen literacy, and see their own experiences as worthy of being heard,” said Jonathan Njus, senior program officer at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. “By bringing together First Book’s deep reach with educators and The Moth’s expertise in storytelling, this partnership gives children the tools to express themselves, connect with others and thrive both in and beyond the classroom.”
The Moth has trained hundreds of teachers through The Moth Teacher Institute. Funding from the Kellogg Foundation will enable The Moth to restructure their successful educator training methodology from live instruction into a blended program of live and virtual video training reaching thousands more educators. This new curriculum will be available exclusively through First Book’s new digital online Community Platform. Participating educators will have the opportunity for live coaching and participation in a virtual StorySLAM for educators.
“Sharing stories inherently builds community,” said Ana Stern, Sr. Manager of Education for The Moth. “For the past two decades, The Moth has provided a forum for storytellers of all ages through The Moth Radio Hour, podcasts, and live events across the country. We’ve also developed curriculum to teach personal storytelling specifically for young people and their educators. We invite educators to think about what happens when classrooms become beacons of sharing and really listening. This partnership with First Book is the perfect match: enabling us to support thousands of educators in sharing their own stories, and giving them the means to teach powerful storytelling to their students.”
In addition to working with The Moth to provide storytelling curriculum in classrooms and community-based settings, First Book will conduct pre- and post-research by First Book Research & Insights, First Book’s research arm, to shape the next phase of storytelling programming.
Teachers, community program leaders, nonprofits, and others working or volunteering with children in low-income or rural settings are invited to join First Book at firstbook.org/register to learn more about this opportunity and to watch an upcoming airing of The Moth’s Mainstage Matinee, a curated program featuring true, personal stories from NYC high schoolers. First Book membership is free and provides access to a wide range of affordable and free books, educational resources, and programming.
Since its founding 34 years ago, First Book has distributed 250 million books and a wide range of educational resources; over the next five years, the organization is expanding to serve 27 million children and 1.6 million educators.
