“Reading is fundamental,” apparently, until you get some zits and your voice drops. After about 12, we just stop talking about it. And writing? Even less so. Think of me spreading the gospel of writing like Mufasa talking about “everything the light touches,” because language is the foundation of all learning from which everything else grows. InkShield Initiative is facilitating this growth by starting with videos about the importance of writing and storytelling, how to balance structure with emotion, and summer programs to help write scholarship essays for potential college students. We are driving home a simple message.

These problems, although severe, can be fixed. We don’t have to live this way. We are choosing to. You don’t have to read another message from your cousin on your birthday: “your a year older. woo.” Or from the manager you’ve been trying to help for years become a better public speaker, who then sends out e-mails like, “Weave not been hittin the numbers this week. Weed better improve befour this gets to coproate.” I wish these weren’t based on true stories, but they are. And as a college professor of freshman writing, this is not uncommon. But we can change this not by shame; we do it with shitloads of money. That’s right, money is not just the root of all evil; it sometimes funds education organizations.

Now that I’ve brought up money, you want to know where it goes. Don’t lie. Yes, you do. The mission and the money raising are interconnected. For the summer scholarship writing camp, we charge the public for seats to fund our organization while giving away 20% of the seats to assist those who cannot afford it. We take the remaining money we make, put that into education videos and articles, and eventually use a portion to fund a scholarship for nontraditional college students (old people with kids and jobs). These dreams did not die because these people turned 30; they died because we turned them away.

A few semesters ago, I had a class look me right in the face and tell me, “This is your dumb class. We’re all the stupid ones that didn’t do well on that test.” These 18-year-olds who are supposed to believe anything is possible were told by our society that they were stupid. They didn't see that stupid grade on that stupid piece of paper on that stupid State test as a measurement of our failures. They viewed it as a definitive answer to what they were worth. Nothing.

I refuse to believe that. You are not stupid; you are untrained. You are not incapable; you are part of a system that is increasingly telling you the things you care about in life are unimportant. You are not a number on a page, or a date on a calendar, or incapable because the things you love most don't pay. I'm a writer and a teacher. Trust me on this one; pay does not equal worth. InkShield Initiative exists because students still need someone to protect their future. The pen is mightier than the sword, but it could always use a shield.

InkShield Initiative: Protecting the Pen

Americans Aren’t Stupid. They’re Uneducated.

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