For Teachers

Spring 2018: "Letters of Hope" Powerful Voice Winner Malena Vargas Sáez

Read Malena's essay, "The Righteous Path of María the Sage," a letter to her grandmother that seeks to harness her strength and resilience in order to overcome today's corrupt and turbulent times.

May 17, 2018

Spring 2018 National Student Writing Competition: Letters of Hope

Want to inspire your students to write? Here's an opportunity to write about something meaningful and for an audience beyond the classroom

May 01, 2018

So many people wanted—needed, even—to channel their energy into something positive after the election. For the collected authors in Radical Hope, letter writing to loved ones was a way to do that.
Photo by Kunal Mehta/Shutterstock.

"Letters of Hope" Student Writing Lesson

Think about what matters most to you about our country’s future. Write a letter to someone important to you, describing that future you imagine and hope for.

Jun 13, 2018

Spring 2018: "Letters of Hope" Middle School Winner Lucy Shuler-Morgan

Read Lucy's letter to Emma González, activist and survivor of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, about how González inspires countless kids like her who sometimes feel they are too young to make a difference in the world.

May 17, 2018

Spring 2018: "Letters of Hope" High School Winner Charlotte Wagner

Read Charlotte's letter to Mary Magdalene about how she's working to make sure the stories and struggles of women like her will be truthfully told and recognized.

May 17, 2018

Let’s Talk About Mass Incarceration
Uneasy about discussing mass incarceration—and its related issues like race, poverty, and punishment—with your students? Here are some resources to get you started. Apr 18, 2018

Spring 2018: "Letters of Hope" University Winner Carly Nelson

Read Carly's letter to her friend Peach about the paradox of support systems and finding hope from those who share struggles of being disabled and fighting bureaucracy.

May 17, 2018

Spring 2018: "Letters of Hope" Literary Gems

We received many outstanding essays for the Spring 2018 Writing Competition. Though not every participant can win the contest, we'd like to share some excerpts that caught our eye.

May 17, 2018

Carolina De Robertis Response to "Letters of Hope" Essay Winners

Carolina De Robertis responds to the winners of our Spring 2018 Student Writing Competition.

May 17, 2018

Let's Talk About Decolonization
Uneasy about discussing colonialism—and its related issues like Standing Rock and Indigenous-led resistance—with your students? Here are some resources to get you started. Apr 03, 2018

About Student Writing Lessons from YES! Magazine

Use the YES! article, prompt, and sample essays in each writing lesson to bring the real world to your classroom—and to take your students’ writing to a new level.

Jing Fong May 15, 2018