There Is Always Light

As Amanda Gorman’s inaugural poem “The Hill We Climb” reminded us all, there is power, beauty, and profound truths in young people’s words. The 826 Boston team is committed to amplifying their voices and sharing their stories—and even though 2021 is only a few weeks old, 826 Boston students (and team members!) already have many new stories to share:

• Students from the Youth Literary Advisory Board (YLAB) were featured on WBUR responding to Amanda Gorman’s inauguration poem. Read (and listen to) their thoughts here.
• Fifteen tenth-grade students at Boston International Newcomers Academy share memories and experiences in the new digital publication New and Beautiful Places. As their teacher Rebecca Mulligan writes: “This book was created with the belief that sharing stories builds community. Reading each other’s stories, and reflecting on how we are similar or different, brings us together.”
• Students from the Blanca Burgos Bilingual Writers’ Room at the Rafael Hernández School debuted stories, poems, and pictures in this new digital magazine. Kindergarteners wrote collaborative poems about gratitude, second graders wrote about kindness, and third graders shared how we can all make this world a better place.
• 826 Boston Executive Director Jessica Drench reminds us not to “lose sight of the abundance of talented young poets right here in our own communities.” Read her piece highlighting several of these poets in CommonWealth Magazine.

“Words are everything and everywhere,” Amanda Gorman said in an interview in the fall of 2020. “They enable us to model the types of leadership and change we hope to see in our communities.” We can’t wait to see what words 826 Boston students will share with us this year and we thank you all for your continued support.