Today, in partnership with 826 National, Hot Studio, Carbon Five, and VolunteerMatch, we re-launched  OnceUponASchool.org, the online initiative developed in response to author and philanthropist Dave Eggers’ 2008 TED Prize wish to inspire and collect the stories of private citizens engaged in their local public schools.

The new website is a fully searchable repository of stories inspired by Eggers’ wish, as well as a resource for people looking to get involved with their local public school. VolunteerMatch powers a custom-built search engine within the site that provides access to the largest database of volunteer opportunities in the country. Teach for America and 826 — a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping students with expository and creative writing, co-founded by Dave Eggers in 2002 – have signed on as partners, and are helping populate the database with volunteer opportunities. Teachers and schools are encouraged to log onto the VolunteerMatch website to post their volunteer needs and be matched with Once Upon A School participants.

Individuals, groups, and companies are invited to creatively share their volunteer experiences on OnceUponASchool.org using images and video to bring their story to life. One example of a business getting involved is this short documentary showcasing TED sponsor Vosges Haut Chocolat (www.vosgeschocolate.com) “Travel the World Through Chocolate” project. The two-hour workshop focused on How to Eat Chocolate, Truffle Making and Chocolate Storytelling. It took only one Vosges employee and two hours to inspire an entire company and create change and good within the community.

In today’s New York Times, Jory John, program director at 826 Valencia (Dave Eggers’ tutoring center), shares some letters to the new president written by 826 students across the country.

Dear Obama,

If I were president I would have fun, because I could run fast.

— Kenja Zelaya, age 6, Los Angeles

Dear President/Mr. Obama,

The best thing about living in the White House would be running around like a maniac. The thing I would like least is the work.

— Holly Wong, age 9, San Francisco

And don’t forget to check out the portraits…

In June, I posted a talk Malcolm Gladwell presented at the New Yorker conference why a “mismatch problem in the workplace” is so common and how it relates to finding good teachers. This week, his article on the same topic came out in the magazine.

Teaching should be open to anyone with a pulse and a college degree—and teachers should be judged after they have started their jobs, not before. That means that the profession needs to start the equivalent of [a] training camp. It needs an apprenticeship system that allows candidates to be rigorously evaluated…given the enormous differences between the top and the bottom of the profession, you’d probably have to try out four candidates to find one good teacher. That means tenure can’t be routinely awarded, the way it is now. Currently, the salary structure of the teaching profession is highly rigid, and that would also have to change in a world where we want to rate teachers on their actual performance. An apprentice should get apprentice wages. But if we find eighty-fifth-percentile teachers who can teach a year and a half’s material in one year, we’re going to have to pay them a lot—both because we want them to stay and because the only way to get people to try out for what will suddenly be a high-risk profession is to offer those who survive the winnowing a healthy reward.

If you are in New York this week, make your way down to the Jen Bekman Gallery where a four day, no holds barred draw-a-thon is happening to benefit our friends at 826NYC.  Artists Jane Mount and Jason Polan will be in the gallery from noon – 6pm each day through December 6th drawing continuously (or almost). Everyone who stops by can draw as well.  If you aren’t able to go, follow the action on their blog.

On Monday, December 8, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., the gallery will host a reception and sale to benefit 826NYC. Work will be available to take right off the wall at affordable prices from $50 to $1,000.

On Tuesday, December 9, 2008 @ 2PM, a unique 20×200 edition will be released exclusively to 20×200 mailing list subscribers. (Collectors can sign up here.) The edition will feature a blind selection of 222 original drawings created by the artists and special celebrity guests, hand-picked by Ms. Bekman and priced at $20, $200 + $2000 each.

In Spetember 2008, Macmillan published The Autobiographer’s Handbook: The 826 National Guide to Writing Your Memoir. (HT Janice Erlbaum)  The book features well-known memoirists, including Nick Hornby, Elizabeth Gilbert, David Rakoff, and Tobias Wolff, sharing tips of the trade on topics ranging from “where to start your story, how to find your narrative arc, and the art and science of getting published.”

The handbook is only $15 and all proceeds go to 826 National. So pick up a copy both for yourself and for the children.

As Dave Eggers puts it, “The reasons for writing a memoir are many, but…I want to talk about one reason in particular…You should write your story because you will someday die, and without your story on paper, most of it will be forgotten.”

Dave Eggers’ TED Talk in 4 minutes. Bite size inspiration.

Ready to engage? Check out Once Upon a School.

Don’t you love it when you can buy a cool product and support a good cause. Personally, I love posters and 826 stores have some of the best. I wrote about one being sold in support of 826NYC and others being sold by 826LA.  Now Design*Sponge tipped me off to a set of 4 posters being sold at 826 Valencia.

Offering guidance and advice on subjects ranging from the proper compensation for a lost limb to the best order for plundering and pillaging. Designed by Office, these spectacular posters are 20×26 inches, and silk-screened on really nice black paper. Be sure to get yours before the ship sails.

Price: $20 each or all four for $70

Well priced and extremely hip. Never too soon to think about holiday gifts.

Tomorrow night at 8pm make your way to Town Hall (123 W. 43rd Street) in Manhattan to see “a show ridiculously overstuffed with famous people!” (Thanks to Ira Glass and This American Life for the great description.)  826NYC is hosting their annual show, REVENGE OF THE BOOK EATERS.  This event, named after a story by an 826NYC student, started in 2006. This year’s show promises to extend that tradition, focusing on unique, memorable performances, all raising money for 826NYC’s free programming for children.

Here is the star-studded lineup:

A story from IRA GLASS.
New songs by DEPARTMENT OF EAGLES (members of Grizzly Bear).
Talking from DAVE EGGERS and KYP MALONE.
A new play by JONATHAN FRANZEN*, read by BOBBY CANNAVALE, PATRICIA CLARKSON, PARKER POSEY, TUNDE ADEBIMPE, and the author.
A duet with THAO NGUYEN and ZACH ROGUE.
Jokes by host (and Daily Show correspondent) JOHN OLIVER.
And a very special appearance by PAUL SIMON.

*Play is from State By State: A Panoramic Portrait of America, a new book edited by Matt Weiland and Sean Wilsey.

Tickets at all prices are still available.  Purchase them here.

More info here.