An online classroom for kids ages 8 to 12

Write to someone in charge.

Pick one thing in your life or your town that should change. Find out who decides. Write them a real letter. Then we follow up until you get an answer.

Join the first 20 See how it works Spots left: 20 of 20

Why this exists

I wrote one letter when I was six. It ended up in a museum.

My name is Alex Myteberi. When I was six, I saw a photo of a boy in Syria, about my age, sitting wounded in an ambulance after a bombing in Aleppo. I wrote to President Obama and asked him to help. The President shared my letter with the world and millions of people around the globe heard my voice.

This summer I visited the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago and found my letter in a table display in the Democracy 101 exhibit. I'm sixteen now. Standing in front of it, I understood something I couldn't at six: I had a voice, someone in charge listened, and it mattered.

Most kids never find that out. This classroom is where they do. It is not about any political party. It is about learning that when you see something wrong, you can write to the person who can fix it, and we will help you get an answer.

Letter no. 1

Alex reading his letter, in a video shared by the Obama White House in 2016. Watch on YouTube

The online classroom

Six sessions. One letter. A real answer.

We meet every other week for one hour on video, with a parent nearby, so the whole program takes about three months. Each session below opens on this page when we get there, with the prompts and a short video from Alex, so you can catch up if you miss one.

What counts as success: 20 letters sent, at least 10 answered, and one kid who feels what Alex felt standing in front of that display.

Who can join

The first 20 kids.

8–12Years old. Older siblings can help but the letter is the kid's.

FreeNo cost. We cover the stamps.

AnywhereSessions are online. Your town, your state, your issue.

1 parentA parent or guardian signs up, sits in, and gets every email.

Save a spot for your kid.

A parent or guardian fills this in. When you press the button, it opens an email to Alex with your answers already written, so you can read it before you send it. Nothing is stored on this page.

Alex replies within a few days with the start date and the video link. Spots are first come, first served.

Have a whole classroom or scout troop? Say so in the message and we'll figure it out together.

The archive

A small museum of kids being heard.

Every letter and every reply from the classroom goes here, with the family's permission. It starts with one.

LETTER 001 · 2016

Alex, age 6, New York

To: the President of the United States. About: a boy in Syria who needed a family.

Answered — watch the reading

LETTER 002

Your kid's letter goes here.

LETTER 003

And here.

LETTER 004–021

Twenty spots. Twenty letters.

For adults

Three ways to help, none of them money.

Little Voices is a pilot, run by a sixteen-year-old with a plan to keep it small and real. Here is what would actually help.

Advisors

One hour a month, an introduction when a letter goes unanswered, and your name on this page. We're looking for a former Republican and a former Democratic officeholder, ideally from the same town, plus someone who has run a youth program.

A fiscal sponsor

A nonprofit willing to host Little Voices as a project for its first year, so we can accept small donations and reimburse a teacher for supplies. The pilot should cost under $1,000. Alex reports monthly and follows your rules.

Teachers and troop leaders

Bring a whole group. One hour every other week for six sessions, online, and a promise to let the kids pick their own issues.

Email Alex about helping