Since the kickoff of the ILD 60-for-60 challenge last month, IRA staffers have receive a daily treat in their email inboxes: a 60-second literacy activity. For our latest two-week round, we imagined what it would be like to pack for a yearlong trip to space. There are some very specific parameters to what someone can bring to the International Space Station and we started small and went smaller.
For our personal belongings lockers, we asked questions that included what three CDs, books and movies had to be onboard, among other sentimental items. After admitting that, sure, you could take some type of tablet that could probably hold all the music, books, and movies you would ever want or need, we asked the staff to suspend their disbelief and work with us here. Our responses ran the gamut from The Bible to The Bell Jar, from reggae to experimental hip-hop.
IRA’s brand new copywriter, Jessica Abbey, had a 60-for-60 baptism by fire when she started midstream. She says getting the questions every day helped her transition into the organization while she’s still working remotely from Brooklyn. She says she’s already found some common ground with new coworkers, even if she hasn’t met them face-to-face yet.
“Overall, I think that the staff participating in the ILD 60 day challenge is a great idea, in that we are practicing the literacy lessons that we preach,” she says, “and having fun at the same time!”
The second week of our challenge made things even more difficult when we had to pack our Personal Preference Kits. Just 3-inches-by-3-inches, this kit can hold items that are small in size, big in meaning. A photo, a special lucky charm, a slip of paper—not much more can fit. So we asked about those things, including a favorite quote that would be of comfort during a long year away from Earth. Answers included song lyrics, passages from books, and quotes from athletes.
IRA Development Manager Rachel Krall said this latest round of activities is her favorite so far.
“Like getting lost in a great story, a 60-second literacy activity allows us to explore the world in new ways,” Krall says. “I personally have never dreamed of being an astronaut—just the idea of space makes me sweat—but allowing ourselves to dream, even if only for 60 seconds, shouldn’t be something that we lose as adults.”
As we enter the second half of the 60-for-60 challenge, the staff will have a chance for a little reflection from our 2014 ILD activity kit. Taking a cue from the “six-word memoir” movement, Jayme Gravell, IRA social media strategist, will send out a theme each day to inspire a six-word story (to be written in 60 seconds). Today’s prompt is “describe your weekend in six words.”
Can you? Share your six-word story at social@/.
April Hall is the editor of Reading Today Online. She can be contacted at ahall@/.