About this project
The Other Side of the Portal includes original writing, illustrations, and more by the students of 826 Boston's Remote After-School Tutoring Program, created both collaboratively and individually.
An 826 Boston original
Published July 2021
Copyright © 2021 by 826 Boston
All rights reserved by 826 Boston and its authors and illustrators
826 Boston
3035 Washington Street
Roxbury, MA 02119
617.442.5400
Designers: Carly Steinauer, Melina Casados, and Patrick Wachira
Copyeditors: Julie Parks and Elise Johnson
Editors: Carly Steinauer and Emily Wu
This site exists thanks to the inspired hard work and support of the following people:
826 Boston Project Coordinators
Carly Steinauer and Karen Sama
826 Boston Staff
Prema Bangera, Writers’ Room Coordinator
Sherell Barbee, Community Engagement Coordinator
Gena Barenholtz, Finance Manager
Kara Deese, Communications Manager
Jessica Drench, Executive Director
Catherine Gomez, Impact and Operations Manager
Nakia Hill, Writers’ Room Director
Isata Jalloh, Writers’ Room Manager
Alison Kronstadt, Writers’ Room Coordinator
Jenna Leschuk, Development Director
Christopher Logue, Deputy Director
Lauren Lopez, Writers’ Room Coordinator
William Marshall, Publishing and Programs Manager
Carolyn Navikonis, Director of Programs and Community Engagement
Heather Nelson, Writers’ Room Coordinator
Karen Sama, Out-of-School Time Program Director
Richard Wheelock, Writers’ Room Coordinator
Patti Wilder, Volunteer Program Director
Rashawnda Williams, Writers’ Room Coordinator
Loni Zelfon, Development and Events Manager
College for Social Innovation Semester in the City Fellow
Kate Blakely
826 Boston Service Members
Charlene Browne, High School Program Specialist, AmeriCorps
Miranda Burel, Volunteer Engagement Specialist, AmeriCorps
Melina Casados, Community Partnerships Specialist, AmeriCorps VISTA
Ximena Delgado, High School Program Specialist, AmeriCorps
Kassy Edouard, High School Program Specialist, AmeriCorps
Ariel Heim, Volunteer Engagement Specialist, AmeriCorps
Greg Hufford, STEM Program Specialist, AmeriCorps VISTA
Desire’ Jackson-Crosby, High School Program Specialist, AmeriCorps
Deanna Leung, High School Program Specialist, AmeriCorps
Cynthia Lopez, K-8 Program Specialist, AmeriCorps
Jess Lynch-Foust, Programs Specialist, AmeriCorps VISTA
Jose Martinez, K-8 Program Specialist, AmeriCorps
Genielysse Reyes, K-8 Program Specialist, AmeriCorps
Annie Romano, K-8 Program Specialist, AmeriCorps
Shannon Slocum, K-8 Publishing and Programs Specialist, AmeriCorps VISTA
Carly Steinauer, Student Impact & Assessment Specialist, AmeriCorps VISTA
Otto Vock, High School Program Specialist, AmeriCorps
Michelle Waslick, High School Program Specialist, AmeriCorps
Jhona Xaviera, Volunteer Engagement Specialist, AmeriCorps
Marcus Yee, High School Program Specialist, AmeriCorps
University Service Partnership Organizations
PULSE - Boston College
4Boston - Boston College
Boston University Community Service Center
Northeastern ACES
Northeastern Community Volunteers Program
Northeastern Service-Learning
826 Boston 2020-2021 Foundation Supporters
Anonymous
Boston Scientific
Calderwood Writing Initiative
Carole Remick Foundation
Cartoon Network
CDQ Charitable Trust
Clowes Fund
Cradle to Career Initiative
East Boston Savings Bank Charitable Foundation
Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation
EdVestors Racial Equity Seed Fund
Finding One's Voice
Frank Reed & Margaret Peters Memorial Fund
Fuller Foundation
Hawkins Project
Hestia Fund
Liberty Mutual Foundation
Literary Arts Emergency Fund
Llewellyn Foundation
Mass Humanities
MassHousing
New England Foundation for the Arts Resilience Fund
Richard K. Lubin Family Foundation
Samuel C. Endicott Fund
Schrafft Charitable Foundation
The Bushrod Campbell and Adah Hall Charity Fund
The Spark Foundation
Tiny Tiger Foundation
TJX Foundation
Wellington Management Foundation
826 Boston is supported in part by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.
826 Boston 2020-21 Interns
Damica Rodriguez
Elise Johnson
Emily Wu
Esma Abib
Fenner Dreyfuss-Wells
Katy Gilmore
Lexie Slotterback
Liam Greenwell
Mackenzie Denofio
Markita Woodard
Patrick Wachira
Rebecca Kilroy
Syeedah Nafia Subah
Teen positions made possible by:
Boston Centers for Youth and Families Youth Engagement & Employment Division
Cristo Rey Boston High School Corporate Work Study Program
BCYF Youth Engagement and Employment Teen Staff
Bless Adedeji
Nevaeh Calliste-Williams
Kahrie Langham
Ruo Wu
Cristo Rey Boston Teen Worker
Arianna Ruiz-Rivera
826 Boston Board
Gillian Kohli, 826 Boston Board President, Wellesley Books
Janet Tiampo, 826 Boston Board Vice President
Mimi Curran, 826 Boston Board Treasurer, retired, WGBH
Marc Foster, 826 Boston Board Clerk, Transparency Life Sciences, LLC
Charisse Howse, Tufts Health Plan
David Bagnani, Fidelity Investments, Retired
Andrew Cohn, LMEC
Donna Cowan, retired, Bolt, Beranek, and Newman
Jon Fullerton, Harvard Graduate School of Education
Jeff Mayersohn, Harvard Book Store
Pam Rosenberg
Samantha Simmons, HubSpot
Benielle Sims
Kate Taylor
Kevin Whalen, Morgan Stanley
Harvey Cotton, 826 Boston Legal Counsel
THANK YOU
to all of our after-school tutors, many of whom helped brainstorm, read, revise, and proofread these pieces!
Abby Velasco
Abigail Slimmon
Adline Rahmoune
Aiche Ba
Aleksandra Baran
Alexa Grayson
Alexandra Cantaffa
Alexandra Carlson
Alexandra Cohen
Alexis Ofshtein
Alexis Slotterback
Allison Fitzgerald
Allison Schinagle
Ana Casados
Andrea Hernandez
Andrew Cutone
Anika Fernandes
Ann DeMilt
Ann Toomey
Anne Cadigan
Annetta Stogniew
Anya Zhong
Arianna Ruiz-Rivera
Ariel Heim
Asiyah Herrera
Ava Rahman
Barbara Sheffels
Basma Gomaa
Benny Berger
Betsy Edie
Bianca Reuter
Bill Stephenson
Blessing Adedeji
Brendan Alam
Brianna Macgregor
Bridget De La Torre
Brooke Kaiserman
Caitlin Elysse Deffler
Carina Christo
Carly Steinauer
Carolyn Joyce
Carolyn Navikonis
Cassandra Phan
Cathline Jean
Ceci Menchetti
Celia Hazerjian
Charles Hale
Charles Wang
Charlotte Robbins
Christen Foster
Christopher Ostwald
Claire Mcgrath
Connie Chen
Cristian Piraneque
Curtis Johnson
David Cohn
Delaney Coyne
Derek Miller
Eliana Faeth
Elise Johnson
Elkan Gamzu
Ellen Vliet Cohen
Emelie Poston
Emily Barr
Emily Boudreau
Emily Freeman
Emily Tan
Emily Wu
Emma Verbovski
Eric Ogara
Erin Chang
Erin Sherry
Esma Abib
Fenner Dreyfuss-wells
Fiona Marren
Flora Ginsburg
Gianna Laura
Gino Isla
Grace Carter
Grace Ramey
Gregory Hufford
Griffin Muckley
Hannah Wilker
Heenal Marfatia
Helen Adeyemo
Huiyun Wang
Isaac Gray
Isabel Fenoglio
Isidora Beslic
Jacob Bleau
Janet Silver
Jennifer Blot
Jerry Mogul
Jessica Benedetto
Jessica Cleveland
Jhona Xaviera
Jillian Murphy
Joely Gagne
Jonathan Park
Julia Corfman
Julia Pangan
Julie Jacobs
Julie Schlack
Justin Mcnamara
Kaasinath Balagurunath
Kahrie Langham
Karen Li
Karen Sama
Karina Lukovits
Kate Blakely
Katelin Tharp
Katherine Billman
Katherine Gilmore
Katherine Lutz
Katie Barnes
Katrine Zlatnik
Kendall Currence
Kevin Hassenfratz
Kristen Pagnani
Lara Wysong
Laura Tabbaa
Lauryn Tsai
Lavinia Clarke
Lee Dionne
Liam Greenwell
Lilly Milman
Lynne Mooney Teta
Mackenzie Denofio
Madeline Parent
Madelyn Fleming
Mae Sabin
Mahima Kotamreddy
Maimouna Sarr
Mansi Kinare
Maria Theresa Queiroz
Marie Senescall
Markita Woodard
Maya Shaughnessy
Meera Bai Singh
Melinda Vel
Miranda Burel
Molly Leiker
Monica Christo
Morgan Ellis
Morgan Robertson
Nassim Dechraoui
Natalia Basualdo Quintanilla
Natalie Noland
Navid Nia
Neera Chattopadhyay
Nevaeh Calliste
Nikka Yamin
Nimi Patel
Paige Zora
Parker Finch
Patrick Wachira
Patti Wilder
Paula Spies
Pranathi Alluri
Prashanth Krishnan
Rachel Myers
Rachel Petherbridge
Rajagopal Srinivas
Rania George
Raswanth Srinivasan
Rebecca Kilroy
Rohin Agrawal
Ruo Wu
Saahithi Maturi
Sally Hehir
Saloni Kumar
Samantha Bethoney
Samantha Won
Sandrine Mallet
Sanjana Dave
Saoirse Herlihy
Sebastien Gray
Shaily Dave
Shannon Slocum
Shay McIntosh
Sherell Barbee
Sidney Brogan
So Kwak
Sumaya Ismail
Syeeda Nafia Subah
Tania Unsworth
Taylor Morales
Tiffany Santos
Vikram Sharma
Virginia Hoeck
Wanying Kang
Wendy Qing
Zhaokang Ye
Zhengtong Gao
Ziyan Feng