The Open Book Project
Because reading cannot happen without writing
What is The Open Book Project?
The Open Book Project serves as the creative capstone of the pathway. High school participants take what they learned through The Mentor Network and Literacy Promise Project and turn it into an original piece of writing.
The program will not require participants to write only about their mentorship experience. That experience is the starting point, but students are encouraged to explore any story, question, or idea that has become meaningful to them.
Personal essays or memoir
Poetry
Short fiction
Spoken-word pieces
Letters to their younger selves
Illustrated stories or graphic narratives
Journalism or community profiles
Advocacy writing
Reflections on identity, belonging, or community
Pieces written collaboratively with their younger mentee
What can students write…?
What is the structure of TOBP?
This eight-week writing project gives participants time to generate ideas, draft, receive feedback, revise, and prepare a final piece for performance or publication in the annual The Folded Leaf Foundation Anthology.
Week 1: Your Story Matters
Participants explore what makes a story worth telling and identify experiences, relationships, questions, or issues they may want to write about.
Week 2: Choosing a Form
Students experiment with poetry, personal narrative, fiction, letters, and other formats before choosing a direction.
Week 3: Building the First Draft
Writers develop scenes, characters, images, dialogue, or central arguments.
Week 4: Writing with Honesty and Boundaries
Participants learn that meaningful writing does not require sharing everything. They discuss privacy, emotional safety, consent, and writing about real people.
Week 5: Revision and Feedback
Students participate in supportive workshops focused on helping the writer communicate what they intend—not changing the piece into what someone else thinks it should be.
Week 6: Working with a Writing Mentor
Each participant meets with a local writer, editor, teacher, journalist, or poet for individualized guidance.
Week 7: Preparing to Share
Students revise their work and choose whether they would like to publish, perform, privately complete, or continue developing it.
Week 8: The Open Book Celebration
The program concludes with a public reading, youth writing showcase, anthology release, and/or community celebration hosted by The Folded Leaf at The Alluvion.
Publication Will Always Be Optional
The promise of publication can be exciting, but it should never become pressure. Participants will choose among several completion options:
Publish under their full name
Publish under their first name, initials, or a pen name
Share only at the public reading
Include the work in a private participant collection
Complete the piece without sharing it publicly
Students will retain ownership of their work. The Foundation will receive written permission before publishing anything and will clearly explain where and how the work will appear.
The Open Book: Stories from the Next Generation
The Foundation will publish an annual anthology featuring writing from each cohort. It will include student work, artwork, brief reflections from mentors, and photographs of community projects—with permission.
The anthology will be:
Sold as a fundraiser for the next program cohort
Given free to every participant
Donated to local schools and libraries
Featured at an annual youth author event
Submitted to youth writing contests or literary journals
Shared with donors as a tangible demonstration of the program’s impact
Get Involved!
