Traveling Stories

We Can Empower San Diego Students to Achieve their Dreams

by making one-on-one mentorship and personalized reading support accessible to more children! 

Why 3rd grade matters?  

First we learn to read, then we read to learn. Most children who can't read proficiently in 1st grade will not read well in high school. These children are 15x more likely to drop out of school. High school drop-outs are not qualified for 90% of jobs and earn an average of $23,000 per year. That's not anyone's dream.

In the communities where Traveling Stories is active, less than 40% of children can read proficiently. Thousands of local students don't have the foundation skills they need to succeed academically. Many are internalizing this as a personal failure and beginning to believe that they're just not smart enough to learn.  It's a crisis. 

Traveling Stories believes every child has the ability to achieve.  Through our Virtual StoryTent program we provide one-on-one mentorship and literacy support to help children build confidence, resilience, and strong reading skills by the fourth grade. 

We expanded the Virtual StoryTent's capacity by implementing the "Pathways to College and Career" internship program. Youth ages 15-20 receive training and then help facilitate weekly one-on-one sessions between children and their mentors. 

But even with the internship, the demand for mentorship and literacy support still exceeds Traveling Stories' resources. We need your help to empower more children. 

This year, we are joining San Diego Gives to spark a movement of giving throughout San Diego and demonstrate our commitment to serving our community. Please help us reach our goal of $20,000. 

Your gift to Traveling Stories will...  

1. Provide mentors to more children. 
2. Fund training for mentors to help them feel more confident and equipped to support their reader. 
3. Help children increase their confidence and reading skills (sometimes in as little as 9-weeks!).
4. Fund diagnostics that will identify a child's strengths and challenge areas so that the support they receive is targeted. 
5. Provide incentives that motivate reluctant readers to keep trying!