Word-Up! Talking Trashing For Kids and Dictionaries

Engaging in good-natured trash talking can be fun, right? Add to that a 70’s-themed tennis tournament (complete with a disco ball) that will benefit The Dictionary Project I’m supporting, and you’ve got Word-Up (Facebook event page).

On Saturday, February 27th, from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m., area bloggers and social-media enthusiasts will step out from behind the safety of their monitors and iPhones to face off at the Birmingham Racquet Club.

For a group of Detroiters accustomed to scrapping out turf in the cyber world by skillfully lobbing poignant barbs, placing the perfect spin on headlines and relying on the fastest servers, the opportunity to see who rises to the top in a face-to-face battle of good ole' fashion trash talk was too much to resist.

All proceeds from the event will go to The Dictionary Project to help complete the mission of putting a dictionary in the hands of 25% of Oakland County School District's 3rd graders by March 25.

You can play, attend, support or sponsor Word-Up. You may as well, cuz if you don't, we'll just talk trash about you anyway. ;)

So how will the tournament work?

Each court will play doubles for 20 minutes, then rotate up the river/down the river style and record the amount of games they won.

At the end of the two hours, we will add up all of the game totals and the players with the highest scores (winners can be on any court) will win a prize…or some trash talk from the non-winners!

The theme is stylish 70's athletic wear (not required, but strongly encouraged). A prize will be awarded for best costume, so the more creative and eccentric, the better!

Tennis and spectator spots are limited and on a first come, first serve basis.

Ticket types include:

Racquet-Wielding Word Warrior (aka tennis player) $20

Sideline Mudslinger (aka onlooker) $10

Benevolent Benefactor $30 (aka gets you in the door as a sideline mudslinger + a shiny pin that lets everyone know you're a high-roller)

Anonymous Benefactor (aka you're above attending plebeian events, but would like to contribute to the cause)

An after party location will be announced during the event.

Feel free to RSVP on the Facebook page, but your spot isn’t confirmed until you register on the Eventbrite page - http://word.eventbrite.com/.

I realize tennis isn’t for everyone, but I sincerely hope you consider coming to the event if you live in metro Detroit, at least for the sheer amusement of wannabe tennis players running around in 70’s outfits and talking trash for kids! Let's have some fun, raise some cash and make a bunch of third graders happy by giving them new dictionaries.

Dictionaries Needed for Hazel Park School District

Want to help me give dictionaries to third graders in the Hazel Park School District? Click on the widget to the right!

Trust me, I know everyone is overwhelmed with "please donate" requests. This is a particularly hard time because of the recent disaster in Haiti. Even if you can only spare $5, know that every little bit counts!

Dictionaries Bring Happiness to Third Graders in Ferndale School District

This past Wednesday, 58 third graders at John F. Kennedy School received new dictionaries thanks to the dictionary project I'm participating in with local bloggers, PositiveDetroit.net and Operation: Kid Equip. The whole team (Jen Wright, Becks Davis, Lauren Weber, Erin Rose and Menachem Kniespeck) was there to witness the kids beam from ear to ear when we put the dictionaries in their hands.

The kids showed their appreciation with plenty of "thank yous" and hugs. The principal called on a few students and asked them to share how they were feeling. Answers ranged from "special and loved" to "very happy and excited." A few of the third graders asked us questions about the dictionaries and our personal blogs. I was impressed that the kids knew what a blog is!

You can read more about the distribution and the dictionary project in this article in The Oakland Press. Becks Davis has more photos on her Flickr page.

I want to touch on something brought up in the comments in The Oakland Press article. A commenter expressed her discontent over Oakland County schools receiving the dictionaries because (1) it's one of the wealthiest counties in the nation and (2) the article has quotes referencing how we're helping "Detroit" (it's a known fact that people here frequently use "Detroit" to refer to southeast MI, and some native Detroiters are bothered by this).

Menachem did a great job of setting the record straight in his comment. Oakland County may have been named one of the richest counties in the nation at one point, but many people don't realize that more than 50,000 students in Oakland County are on the free and reduced lunch program. Third graders in the Hazel Park School District are next up on the list to receive free dictionaries. More than 70 percent of those students receive free or reduced lunches. These statistics and others prove that poverty in Oakland County is no longer specific to the cities traditionally labeled as poor. You can find more info at on the Operation: Kid Equip site.

At the end of the day, all that really matters is the dictionary donations make students feel happy, cared for and loved. We don't know which ones belong to families who are struggling financially. We can only hope that this project will give the students more insight into the importance of knowing how to read and write well.

We still have a ways to go to reach our goal of giving dictionaries to roughly 2,700 third graders in Oakland County. With your continued support, we can make it happen. Donation details are included in my previous post, but ping me if you need more info. Thank you to everyone who has donated so far!

Top photo credit

How You Can Help Metro Detroit Students Become Powerful Writers and Creative Thinkers

I'm taking part in a very cool and creative initiative that will help make a difference in the lives of metro Detroit children.

Female bloggers from the local Detroit area are joining PositiveDetroit.net, in collaboration with Operation: Kid Equip, to provide at least 25 percent of Oakland County Schools with dictionaries for third graders.

Erin Rose of Positive Detroit, Becks Davis of Detroit Moxie, Jennifer Wright of Looking Glass Lane, Lauren Weber of Staircase to Earth's Loveliness and I spend much of our time writing on our respective blogs. We want to help give the same opportunities to local students as we were given in our writing classes as children. We want to encourage local students to become better writers.

With the assistance of Operation: Kid Equip and its participation with The Dictionary Project, we will be distributing dictionaries specifically written for third graders who are at the dividing line between learning to read and reading to learn.

Now through March 15, 2010, we are raising money to provide roughly 2,700 third graders in Oakland County with brand new dictionaries. To give you an idea of the impact you can make, for a $20 donation, you can supply at least eight third graders with dictionaries.

An anonymous donor has graciously offered to match donations, dictionary-for-dictionary, up to the first 100 dictionaries. Just think - your donation today can double the amount of children who are being served tomorrow.

Reading and writing have always been an enormous part of my life. I started reading earlier than most children (basically as soon as I could form sensible sentences), and I was the speed reader who finished all the reading assignments first in elementary school. Knowing how to read goes hand-in-hand with knowing how to write. As a public relations professional who spends gobs of time writing, I understand that it's an art and a craft. Loving to read early on in life, coupled with constantly using a dictionary to build my vocabulary, helped me polish my writing skills. I wish every child in this world could learn how to become powerful writers. Together, we can play a part in shaping the futures of children who enjoy reading and writing by giving them dictionaries.

Here is how you can help:

1. Click here to make a PayPal donation for $100, $50, $20 or $10.

2. Mail a check payable to:

Operation: Kid Equip
PO Box 364
Royal Oak, MI 48068-0364

Be sure to write Dictionary Project in the memo line.

3. Contact menachem@operationkidequip.org to make a credit card or
other form of payment outside of PayPal.

4. If you would like to join the female bloggers collaboration
with your blog, contact Erin Rose at positivedetroit@gmail.com.

About Operation: Kid Equip
As an all-volunteer 501(c)(3) nonprofit community benefit organization, we realize that to break the cycle of poverty and hopelessness, we have to meet some very basic, yet overlooked needs. Operation: Kid Equip acts as a conduit for collecting and distributing tangible educational and school supplies to school-aged children. Operation: Kid Equip effects long term improvement in the community by providing at-risk kids with the core necessities they need to prosper in school and in life. Visit our website at www.operationkidequip.org.

About The Dictionary Project
The Dictionary Project is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. The goal of this program is to assist all students in completing the school year as good writers, active readers and creative thinkers by providing students with their own personal dictionary. The dictionaries are a gift to each student to use at school and at home for years to come.


**Photo credit: jovike