InkShield Initiative | support adult education

Writing is a gateway to learning. That gateway is crumbling.

We aren't aiming to make everyone who visits this site a sad panda, but 50% of American adults report reading and writing at or below an 8th-grade level. Let that sink in. People aren’t just not reading. They can’t. We could rattle off a hundred theories as to why, but InkShield Initiative is focused on protecting literacy as a whole.

We exist to provide free online education in writing and English studies to anyone who wants it. And we are focusing on adults because that's who is being left behind. When’s the last time you saw a commercial with a pizza party for a bunch of adults reading books? Or a telethon to help a 35-year-old write a term paper?

We are filling that void. We’re starting with a few videos, a handful of articles, and a summer essay program. The goal? To get people talking about what they’ve learned as adults and why it matters. We need your help because the problem is bigger than you imagined. So, the solution has to be too.

50% of American adults report reading and writing at or below an 8th-grade level.

Shame won't help. We Will

Let me say it again for the people in the back: We are teaching English in our way, online, for free. When I became a college professor a few years ago, I realized a few things. Incoming students were either expert writers for whom this stuff was old hat, or they assumed they were “bad writers” and “had no imagination.” I'm sorry, but that is bullshit. Hand something imaginary to a 5-year-old. Pretend it’s precious.

Within seconds, that kid is spouting off about an invisible puppy, a dinosaur, or something random that makes no sense.

Creativity lives inside of us. People are programmed to assume that English is boring, "important" stories have to end in death, and that imagination is for children. Somewhere along the way, we stopped encouraging expression and started grading performance. Education should be free. Free of judgment. And it should encourage free thinking.

Education should be free. Free of judgment. And it should encourage free thinking.

Free education costs real money.

Like it or not, capitalism is here to stay. If there’s anything this organization represents, it’s that we live in the world that exists, not the one we wish did. That’s why we have to show up, fill in the cracks, and build what isn’t being built. These are real problems faced by real people. Shiny corporate programs made for photo ops with little kids reading one book are not enough. Adults deserve to learn, to hope, and to dream. And we need money to fund hope.

Here’s how the math breaks down:

If we raise a few thousand dollars this summer, the website chugs along for another year or so. That’s survival, not growth.
Thirty to forty thousand means I can pay off student loans, which frees me up to expand tutoring and maybe bring in some volunteers. That’s real movement.
A hundred or two hundred grand, and this becomes my full-time mission. I’ll run live English classes for anyone who wants them, offer one-on-one tutoring, and build an army of like-minded individuals stomping down illiteracy like it’s an invader. That’s the plan—and we’re already building it.