Diamantes del Sol - published during our inaugural summer, Diamantes del Sol is a collection of dual language poems and autobiographical statements written by middle school students.
                         "The aroma in the air floating through the fields
                           Fresh water, crystal-clear, and luminous..."

Nuestras Historias de Inmigracion, Our Immigration Stories -  These moving accounts of leaving their home countries for new oppotunities in the United States were written by ForWords' middle school students in 2007.

                             "It feels great to meet my dad after four years because I thought I was never going to see him again. My dad was so happy when I came here. He said, 'Now you are going to learn English because it is important in this country.' In my future I want to learn English and be a teacher so I can teach other people."

Just Be Yourself - Written by high school students, this publication is a compilation of interviews and advice about how to succeed in high school and how to avoid the dangers that students face in their lives. 

                             "It was interestings to hear these stories about Jorge's high school experience.  It made me feel good as he shared his story with us.  The last thing that he said to us was, 'be yourself and you'll do good.'  And that's the advice we try to follow."

Dream On - in this ForWords publication, middle school students share their career plans and dreams along with their ideas of what a typical day would be in this career.

                      "I hope to own my own restaurant. My restaurant is covered with Christmas lights...When I was done checking the lights as I do every week, everybody who works at the restaurant was ready for our meeting.  We talked about 5 special reservations we have here tonight and we tried the specials of the day..."

San Francisco:  A Canal Alliance Perspective - written by high school students after visiting numerous venues in San Francisco.  Talking with and interviewing business owners, students researched their topics and then wrote their evaluations of parks, theatres, restaurants, and hotels. 
                      "The building was built in the 80s.  It used to be a Cadillac dealership.  After a few years they got tired of selling cars and they left this place alone and taadaaa!!  An AMC theater was build.  I don't know whose idea it was but for sure it was a good one."

The Civil War - Eighth grade students at Helms Middle School in Richmond researched, wrote, and published a book about aspects of the civil war.  Students wrote papers as well as personal letters "in character" on the topic of their research.

                "Dear Harriet,  I have lost the fight and I am still a slave.  I am sorry for putting you through this.  I have fought for my rights and I have lost.  I feel as if I lost my life in that court..."

Letters and Reflections, A Collection of Thoughts - in the Spring of 2010 our students participated in the "Red Hand Project" during which they researched and studied about child soldiers and refugees around the world.  Subsequently, they sent red printed hands and wrote letters to the United Nations urging the end of the use of child soldiers.

              "A child soldier is a child who gets recruited by the rebels or the army; the children are poor and they live in poor towns.  It is important because they are children whose rights are violated and their rights should not be violated..."

This is a Public Service Announcement:  A Step by Step Guide to Making Your Own Public Service Announcement - learning both public speaking skills and technology skills, our students made DVDs of public service announcements they created on topics of great concern to them.  They then wrote a book about the process so that others could learn from their experiences.

              "A PSA is a public service announcement.  For you to make a good PSA you need a good topic, problem, and solution because it's important to help people understand that what they are doing is wrong with issues such as sexual abuse or drugs...."

Yes We Can - University is the Goal & On Our Way To Success: During the summer of 2011 students researched and toured several local universities including UC Berkeley, Sonoma State University, and Dominican University of California.  Students studied the entrance requirements and learned about the required examinations for admission.  Subsequently, they reviewed their high school transcripts and adjusted their programs tomatch the A-G requirements of the state universities. Upon completion of their research, students wrote about their findings and visits in two ForWords' publications entitled, "On Our Way to Success" and "Yes We Can".  Students plan to share their research with their peers so that others may use the information to achieve their goals.