WISH LIST $150: 1 workshop led by a children’s book author; $500: 12 sessions of website design and computer programming for 15 girls; $4000: an entire semester of Young Writers Academy at 1 school

Find your passion! That is the rallying cry of Passion for Learning, which works with students in the Montgomery County Public Schools. Its Young Writers’ Workshop zeroes in on core subjects – reading, writing, and language arts – where stubborn achievement gaps persist between children from high- and low-income families. Professional writers provide a rich array of workshops in poetry, playwriting, storytelling, and research writing. Sessions are interactive and engaging, and they illustrate for kids that writing is a “tool for life.” Because the achievement gap – this time between boys and girls – is perhaps most striking when it comes to technology, GRRL Tech (Girls Really, Really Love Technology) engages 45 elementary and middle schoolers in a girl-focused curriculum that teaches computer programming language and web development. Making education come alive in some of the lowest-income schools in the county is what PFL is all about. Its not-so-secret weapon is a growing network of community members who share their love of learning with kids. If this is your passion, you have found your home.

Cynthia Rubenstein, Executive Director 1210 Woodside Parkway Silver Spring, MD 20910 301-562-6014 passionforlearning.org