Mission High Book Project

Mission High Once Upon A School from Dan Mitchell on Vimeo.

Our plan

For this year's Young Authors' Book Project, 826 Valencia is excited to partner with Pirette McKamey and 65 juniors from Mission High School to create a collection of personal essays based on the "Golden Rule," the ethical concept that emphasizes treating others the same way you wish to be treated. In preparation for this book project, the students at Mission High School are reading about historical events with the question in mind: "How were these people able to resist the mores of the day and contemplate an alternative moral code which allowed them to not only treat others with dignity and respect, but also fight for the good of those unlike themselves?" They will also read stories wherein characters face moral questions and are challenged to be courageous, and theoretical works about the power of kindness and moral consistency. Finally, the students will write about their own understanding of what it means to "Do unto others," how they see it applied locally and globally, and what struggles they have had trying to live by it. Using family stories, personal experiences, everyday interactions, and their dreams of the future, the collection will be an ethical guide to life.

What we did

At last year’s TED conference, attendee Mark Dwight, founder of Rickshaw Bags, was inspired by speaker Karen Armstrong, whose 2008 wish was to assemble a Council on Compassion, a forum through which religious leaders can work together for peace. Dwight was also impressed by 826 and Dave Eggers, who was the second featured speaker. In an effort to fulfill both Eggers’ and Armstrong’s wishes at the same time, Dwight approached 826 Valencia and proposed that this year’s 826 book project focus on the concept of the Golden Rule. Dwight also offered to contribute a personal donation to the project, in addition to his assistance fundraising within the TED community. 826 Valencia was thrilled at the idea, and began the planning process. 826 Programs Coordinator Marisa Gedney directly approached Pirette McKamey, an educator at Mission High School whom she had collaborated with on other smaller publishing projects, and asked her if she wanted to partner on this bigger undertaking. Mission High is a great fit for 826, because it is just a few blocks away and has the kind of statistics that put it squarely in 826’s target zone. The workshops will be held weekly, and span the semester. After the book is released, Dwight has promised to put one copy in each gift bag passed out to attendees at the 2009 TED conference.