We recently connected with Harthik Parankusham and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Harthik, thanks for joining us today. Let’s kick things off with a hypothetical question – if it were up to you, what would you change about the school or education system to better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career?

The Raayu Children’s Foundation is a youth-led publishing foundation that believes in empowering educational pursuance and children’s imagination through story-writing workshops.

Hundreds of Millions of children around our world don’t receive an education. But there’s just as many that go to school and never realize the value of it. So they drop out. Raayu’s Story-Writing program work with children in low-income and low-literacy areas where dropout rates are high. We teach story-writing as a way to bring hope and imagination to these children. Where writing a story can save a child’s future. Where writing a story can save a life. Our educational interventions, run by high schoolers, college students and faculty, work with little authors in workshops to build an amazing story, over the course of 6 months. Their tales are published to Raayu.org, where they are recognized for their contribution and honored for their diligence.

My name is Harthik, and I founded and help run the Raayu Foundation. Part of my primary schooling was done in Manchester, CT – an area in the Hartford County that has one of the lowest literacy rates throughout the state. After moving schools to another town, I realized this immense educational discrepancy, falling drastically behind in learning to read and write as both a first-grade child and immigrant to this country. Today, I write stories, publish books, and I couldn’t have done it without my education. Without my teachers and role models. Without my tutors and friends. The work Raayu™ does today originates from my experiences as a student that faced these struggles. It originates from a dream to be the guiding figure that ignites passion in the children that need it.

As you read this today, we’ve worked with more than 800 elementary students, our little authors’ stories have been read over 4000 times at Raayu.org, and we’ve been endorsed by the Yale Daily News in our state of Connecticut. And every student we’ve worked with, has never stopped wanting to write. Why? Because the work we do at The Raayu Children’s Foundation is a calling to the way we think about children’s education. It is a vocation for imagination to reside in our teachings and a proclamation that passion in our children is the greatest teacher of all.

Harthik, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Today, I’m a student at the University of Connecticut. I’m studying Early Childhood (HDFS) and am still writing stories. Looking back, my story started oddly. Differently. It started from a toy car.

2011, and my family moved between towns from Manchester, CT to Farmington. As a young Indian-American child of immigrants, English was always a challenge – but moving between towns made school even harder. My new school in Farmington was incredibly difficult, and I fell behind faster than I could catch up. But my first grade teacher embraced my struggle. He was the one who gifted me a reading tutor, and it wasn’t long before I loved books. After each story I had read with my tutor, I earned a toy car. I fell in love with Mr. Putter and Tabby Cat, with Fly Guy and the Berenstain Bears. In fact, I’d even read in bathrooms, on the bus and falling asleep. As I grew, Harry Potter grew with me. And yet, my focus shifted from reading to writing, recreating the magical worlds I’d once read about.

Whether it was winning competitions, publishing novels, and reading to my two younger siblings – my passion for inspiring imagination through words, sustained through my high school years. I helped start Raayu, on the basis of giving back to my educational community- altruism still reigns over the heart of our organization – but we’ve expanded our scope. Today we work with impoverished communities all around the globe. We set up programs to build literacy skills, but more importantly to build a passion – an excitement- to use what they’ve learned and impact the world with a pencil and paper.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Helping 800+ children write chapters in their book and the story of their life, will always be Raayu’s greatest fortune.

To see Leprechauns dance on pages in March (St. Patrick’s Day Special), and Santa fitting through plot-lines in December (Christmas Special) during our WordCraft Workshops is what makes our volunteers keep going. To see children asking “when are you coming back?” as high schoolers gently waive a goodbye after the program – this is our greatest affirmation. To watch students grow up knowing their young stories will live on Raayu.org as a testament to the fact, that they made it. This is Raayu’s treasure. While there is no definitive measure of a “reward,” every interaction that brings Raayu closer to keeping every child in school, is the gift that will never stop giving.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Our goal is simple; our belief is one. The Raayu Children’s Foundation is building a world where all children stay in school; where imagination and passion are the norm in education. We’re building this belief day by day, through teaching children to write great stories, and motivating them by publishing their work at Raayu.org.

This is the change we bring.

While we’ve impacted many young authors today, our work has just commenced. The joy of teaching a little author to write, is unparalleled, and we’re seeking doers who believe our beliefs. At the end of the day, The Raayu Foundation will always have a place for its volunteers – whether you’d be interested in giving a workshop for elementary students, publishing their work, helping the kids that need it – one on one – or reading a story for our podcast, the work you do will create a resounding impact.

We hope you join us and create a difference.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://raayu.org
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/projectraayuhs?utm_source=qr
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/98353743/admin/feed/posts/
• Twitter: https://x.com/ProjectRaayu/status/1694729337407173090?s=20
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCltzvy3uQciINe1NdEtpnMQ

Image Credits

West Woods Upper Elementary School
Farmington Public Library
Noah Wallace Elementary School
East Farms Elementary School