Kalvin Ellis Needs Your Help!

A Plea From Kalvin Ellis

“Nerds like us are allowed to be unironically enthusiastic about stuff. Nerds are allowed to love stuff, like jump-up-and-down-in-the-chair-can’t-control-yourself love it. Hank, when people call people nerds, mostly what they’re saying is ‘you like stuff.’ Which is just not a good insult at all. Like, ‘you are too enthusiastic about the miracle of human consciousness’.” - John Green, Author, Philanthropist, Nerd Fighter, real life Superhero. 

Imagine you’re a kid struggling in class. It isn’t the work that is hard, it’s learning in general. Sure, you know every episode of The Simpsons, you can recite Kyle Reece’s monologue to Sarah Conor from Terminator verbatim, and you know exactly what the Reebok’s Ripley is wearing at the end of Aliens look like, but you’ll be darned if you can spell the word “special” on the first try, or know how to multiply a fraction. I don’t have to imagine it, because I was that kid. I would have given anything to just understand how to learn. If someone could have harnessed that level of enthusiasm for pop culture and direct it toward education, maybe I wouldn’t have felt so alone. That is what Pop Culture Classroom does. And that is what Pop Culture Classroom is in danger of losing. 

As a board member of Pop Culture Classroom I have seen firsthand the impact that our programs have. I’ve seen a student’s face light up as she realizes that the lesson for the day isn’t coming from a textbook, but instead it’s coming from a comic book. I’ve watched as a teenager rolls their eyes as they are dragged to a mini-con just because their little brother wanted to dress up as Spider-Gwen and do an obstacle course, to then try and hide a smile when they see we have a setup to teach them how to code a video game. Or listen as a little boy  yells across a library to come and see the mermaid/dinosaur/pirate character that he created to play in his very first text based role playing game. We see these things happen every single time we deliver one of our programs. 

Pop Culture Classroom delivers a lot of these programs for free, and most of those resources go to underfunded and at risk communities. So funding them becomes increasingly difficult, and we can’t do it without your help. But what exactly is Pop Culture Classroom?

What Is Pop Culture Classroom?

Pop culture Classroom is a non-profit organization that inspires a love of learning, increases literacy, celebrates diversity, and builds community through the tools of popular culture and the power of self-expression. For example, we publish comics and graphic novels, provide educators with curriculum materials, and lead students through interactive activities to immerse them in learning experiences.

Our four major programs are:

1. We create resources including comics, curricula, and graphic novel teaching guides. These are made available as free downloads on our website.

2. We host community events with one-of-a-kind opportunities for kids, teens, fans, and families to learn, create, and connect. This includes our largest event of the year, FAN EXPO Denver, where we host the 9000 square foot Kids’ Lab and All-Ages stage, and professional development for librarians and educators.

3. We present in-person workshops for students in classrooms, afterschool programs, and other non-profit organizations. And we professional development for educators and librarians.

4. Host the Excellence in Graphic Literature Awards to celebrate the best in graphic novels by promoting and honoring the best graphic titles each year and recognize the brightest graphic literature creators.

What Can You Do?

As a small educational nonprofit that is trying to change the world, Pop Culture Classroom needs your support! Your donations will go directly to saving these programs and allowing us to continue to provide them to those who need them the most! Sharing our message to your networks is also key. We believe that if everyone knew about what we were doing they would want to be a superhero, too!