Youth art group publishes work in book

Published 3:07 pm Friday, June 19, 2015

A group of Sammamish middle and high schoolers came together with the goal of inspiring a million children and teens to donate their creative talent for a social cause. As part of that goal, they’re now publishing a book of student artwork available in print and electronically.

“Art is an essential part of life,” 17-year-old Cata Raggi said. “We can’t create a solution without creativity.”

The Tesla STEM High School junior, along with her peers, created a collage of 55 students’ artwork from more than 30 communities within King and Pierce counties, called “40 Story’s: Youth Voices United for Change.”

When someone purchases a copy of the book, proceeds will be donated to other nonprofits that fight hunger or promote youth programs around the world.

Before you judge the book by its cover, yes, the authors know the title is misspelled — and yes, they did it on purpose.

Creative Children for Charity, founded by 14-year-old Chirag Vedullapalli in 2009, wanted the book to stand out on the shelves, but also wanted to imply some ownership of the artwork inside. It’s not just a collection of stories, but a collection of someone’s stories.

Published in January, the book took longer than Vedullapalli and his team originally anticipated back in February 2014, when they were first getting started.

When the city of Sammamish did not agree to sponsor the project, he and his team took to their parents’ rolodexes.

Skyline High School Rohini Mettu, 15, said the experience of asking for money and support, and facing rejection, was “a bit scary,” but gave her invaluable life skills.

“After joining (Creative Children for Charity), at school, I’m more confident at speaking to my classmates,” she said. “I just feel more confident leading a group of people.”

The group originally came together under the guidance of Vedullapalli’s mom, Chaitra, who promotes teaching youth the necessary qualities to be a leader.

She uses Search Institute’s “40 Developmental Assets” framework, which was founded in 1990 and identifies a set of skills, behaviors and relationships necessary for youth to mature into adults and leaders.

The artwork within the book is a visual representation of the artist’s interpretation of these various assets, like Sophia Ojeda’s work depicting reading for pleasure. Ojeda, 14, is another member Creative Children for Charity.

Similarly to Mettu, the other group members said their confidence has risen, but there are other benefits to working on the project.

Twelve-year-old Souptik De, a sixth grader at Evergreen Middle School, said the experience has helped with his time management skills.

After raising the necessary funds and collecting the artwork, the next challenge was finding a publisher.

Many publishers said this student project was an insane idea, Chaitra Vedullapalli said. But Sammamish publisher Bryan Heathman took it on, as his company, Made For Success Publishing, specializes in these type of projects.

The group met every Sunday and spent about three hours a week on individual assignments.

They envision the book being used in classrooms as a way to teach youth about the leadership framework.

“A lot of kids don’t get a chance to experience being a leader at their young age,” Raggi said.

Creative Children for Charity has already raised more than $10,000 in the past three years through various fundraising events.