As managing editor of MaMaMedia Magazine, I helped launch a new venture in 1996 – the first magazine about the web for children during the early days of the internet. MaMaMedia and its active website for kids grew out of the constructionist learning theories of the MIT media lab. MaMaMedia encouraged children to explore the internet within a safe, exciting, and fun learning space, both online and in print. The magazine was distributed by Scholastic and the groundbreaking website had over five million registered users. These concepts were expanded into the World Wide Workshop with the goal of inspiring kids to use new technologies to benefit their communities.

For as long as I can remember, I have helped kids write essays and applications. I coached my own kids to be strong writers and over the years I did the same for my nieces, nephews, and family friends. I then became an essay coach and I have worked with students on hundreds of essays. As part of my business, I coach about 20-25 kids per year from around the country (and world), including students from under-resourced communities. I especially love coaching the personal essay for college applications where students tell a story, decide how to deal with conflict, and share their reflections.

I often tell my students that I have a built-in story detector that guides me as I talk with them and then alerts me to their “story treasure.” After many years as a television producer and storyteller, I know right away when I sense a story that’s as good as gold.