Empowering children
Wisconsin teen’s creative writing program Kids Tales has global reach
“I didn’t have an understanding exactly about the impacts that it would have. I thought, OK this is something I could just keep for myself ... but it’s also something that has a real impact and can make a difference.” KATIE EDER
“I am juicy, gooey, hot, cheesy and heaven in your mouth. What am I?” the teacher asked.
Hands shot in the air and 10 children bounced up and down in their seats. “Pizza! Pizza! Pizza!” they squealed.
The children, ages 8 to 12, were practicing giving their teacher descriptive words about their favorite food item without saying its name.
It’s just one small piece of a curriculum created by 17-year-old Katie Eder.
Four years ago, Eder’s sister started tutoring kids in math, and she wanted to follow in her big sister’s footsteps. There was one problem — Katie is bad at math.
But the thing she is good at is writing, and Eder couldn’t find anywhere that offered tutoring for children, so she approached Milwaukee’s COA Youth and Family Center to allow her to teach creative writing.
They took a chance on the 13-yearold and agreed — and the result was Kids Tales, a program to empower children, often in low-income areas or in juvenile detention centers, to use creative writing to discover their voice and share their story.
Teenagers, and only teenagers, volunteer to teach children for a week and guide them as they write their own short story, working on brainstorming and plot and character development. Once the stories are completed, they are put into a book, making each child a published author.
Tom Schneider, COA’s executive director, said there was plenty of skepticism during Eder’s first summer, but the results spoke for themselves.
“We’ve (COA) got nothing but admiration and applause for the work that she’s (Eder) done and the impact of the kids that she’s worked with,” Schneider said.
The Shorewood High School senior said it isn’t uncommon for participants to tell her it felt like the first time their stories could be heard and that their voices mattered.
“I didn’t have an understanding exactly about the impacts that it would have,” Eder said. “I thought, OK this is something I could just keep for myself ... but it’s also something that has a real impact and can make a difference.”
The nonprofit has grown dramatically, going from 18 kids in 2014 to teaching more than 800 kids in 12 U.S. cities and six different countries. Its growth can all be attributed to the teen volunteers.
Word of mouth helped spread the program from state to state but AFS Project: Change helped jump-start Kids Tales to international success. Eder applied to the competition, going up against 500 other people who submitted original volunteer project ideas.
Eder swept the competition, winning two weeks abroad, all expenses paid, to bring her vision to life. Since winning in 2014, she has had multiple opportunities to travel to various places — most recently to a refugee camp in Hungary.
Schneider said Eder’s ability to relate to and inspire children is what sets her apart.
“She’s not just been able to create an idea and implement an idea and inspire other people to participate in the idea, but now she’s got others using the model,” Schneider said.
Six executive board members from around the world head the organization, overseeing regional ambassadors, program directors and teachers.
Eder said it’s been a learning curve, especially as a teenager, from figuring out finances to fundraising, but she can’t think of a better group of people to run the organization.
“Kids are only 25% of the world’s population, but we are 100% of the future,” Eder said.
As Eder begins to prepare for college next year, she’s exploring options for Kids Tales. In a perfect world, she said it will be absorbed by a larger organization, but it will at least be passed on to the next person to take over her role.
But one thing is for certain, Kids Tales isn’t going anywhere.
“I love Kids Tales and I want to be a part of it for the rest of my life,” Eder said. “I just want to figure out how to give Kids Tales its best chance to continue to grow.”