American
Booker T. Washington's First School
A boy born into slavery who wanted to read so badly he walked miles to a classroom — and worked before dawn just to be allowed in the door.
This Week · Perseverance
Perseverance: a new school year is hard at first — what helps you keep at it?
For littler ones: When school feels hard, what helps you keep trying?
This week we're wondering about perseverance — sticking with something hard when stopping would be easier. A new school year is the kind of hard that comes early: new room, new faces, lessons that don't make sense yet. So here's the question to turn over in the car or at the table — what helps you keep at it?
This week's stories
American
Stagecoach Mary
Mary Fields — a Black woman and one of the first female mail carriers in U.S. history — who drove her wagon through Montana winters and rough country to get the mail through, even when no one expected her to last.
American
Sarah Hale's Thanksgiving Letter
A writer who wanted a national day of thanks, and kept writing letter after letter to one president after another for years before anyone said yes.
Talk about it
- What's something that felt hard at the very start — and what was it like a little while later?
- When you want to stop, what helps you keep going? Is it a person, a reason, or something else?
- Booker walked miles, Mary kept driving through the snow, Sarah kept writing for years. What do you think kept each of them at it?
A new question every week.
Listen together in the app — short audio stories for kids 4–10, at bedtime, on the drive, in the drop-off line.
Join the family
Get the stories that built America in your inbox
New stories, the weekly Almanac, and family read-aloud picks. No spam — unsubscribe anytime.