Connecting to the Future: Books to Action
Our teen summer program uses books to inspire community activism.
These incredible young folks designed and implemented service learning projects right here in Norristown. They also turned their experiences into a presentation for the community, and drafted their resumes and college essays!
These incredible young folks designed and implemented service learning projects right here in Norristown. They also turned their experiences into a presentation for the community, and drafted their resumes and college essays!
2026 Service Projects
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Peace Cranes: Ava and Emily teamed up with the Norristown library. They invited the community to come out to learn about Japanese origami and the story of the thousand paper peace cranes. As a community, thus far, 250 cranes have been folded and displayed in the Teen Section of the library!
They also created a tutorial video you can watch below. The library has a display where patrons can learn to fold cranes using their video! |
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Storytelling as Community Care: Chrissy and Jade decided they wanted to hear their neighbors stories, especially those stories related to how ICE has impacted their community. With the help of Jade’s dad, they built and decorated boxes that will be placed around town for people to anonymously write and submit their stories.
They also connected with CCATE - a local Hispanic nonprofit that runs a podcast where these stories will be told on an ongoing basis. To get all the boxes decorated, Chrissy and Jade invited local teens to come help them as they discussed these hardships within our community. Last year, their project also explored the power of storytelling when they held a children's reading hour and worked to help younger children understand the power of empathy through storytelling. |
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The Power of Biliteracy: Jorge and Manny teamed up to expand Jorge’s 2025 project where he held a book drive for Spanish language books. When he passed them out to the community, he included a bookmark he made that highlighted the benefits and importance of biliteracy. This year, Jorge and Manny researched and interviewed community partners who work with adult literacy. They created a brochure highlighting these opportunities which community members can find at local stores.
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Kindness Rocks: Saniyah helped Mission Kids create a Kindness Rock Garden. She invited young children to come paint rocks with her. During the rock painting session, she shared with these young children the benefits of art to clear one’s mind, find relaxation and express self.
She donated 188 painted rocks to their garden! Read more about Saniyah's project here. |
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Donation Drives: Brent organized two drives. One was for Mission Kids. In the advocacy center there are brand new stuffed animals available for the children to use and take home during this difficult process. Brent created posters and social media posts to teach the community about Mission Kids and to collect stuffed animals. He collected 18.
However, he also wanted to work with another local organization, The Blessing Shop, a free clothing store in Norristown. He organized a clothing drive and was able to collect 3 large boxes of clothes. He also made a great connection with the executive director and will begin volunteering there! |
Thank you to our 2026 sponsors! Because of your generosity each student received a $250 Community Service Award and a $50 project budget.
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