Between The Pages empowers children to discover a life-long love of reading using books as tools to immerse at-risk and avid readers in an engaging recreation of their favorite books, fostering literacy, creative play, creative writing and cooperative problem solving.
About
OUR MISSION
Our Story
Do you remember your favorite book as a child and wondering what it would be like to live in that world with those characters?
At Between the Pages, we make that happen.
We recreate the worlds of our kids’ favorite books. Being able to navigate real world problems from inside a fictional setting allows space for genuine problem solving and dramatically decreases fear of trying and failing.
And it’s fun!
Inspired by the power of books to change lives, at Between the Pages we empower children to discover a life-long love of reading through creative play and cooperative problem-solving.
We recreate the worlds of our kids’ favorite books, relevant to their own cultural community, to create a creative and safe space, so that they can find the freedom and fun to read together and express the hero within.
We do this first through dramatic readings and roleplay by our trained actors, then by inviting the students to take over key roles in the readings and finally by inviting them to write their own story where they are the hero. At the end, they become published authors in a student anthology of stories created to allow their voice to be heard.
The result? We find that being able to navigate real world problems from inside a fictional setting allows space for genuine problem solving and dramatically decreases fear of trying and failing.
We also see children who always thought,‘books have nothing to do with me or my family,’ quickly discover that not only are books fun, heroes look just like them and their own heroic story is just waiting to be written.
What emerges is a supportive community of readers exhibiting confidence, creativity and above all, kindness.
In short, at Between the Pages, we empower the hero within through creative, literary play and we stand there with them so that their voices can be heard.
Topher Bradfield
Executive Director
It all started with a book…
Founder of Camp Half-Blood Austin, Topher’s passion has always been to ignite a love of literature in everyone he meets. He fell in love with The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan from the first chapter and was such an advocate for the book and it’s empowerment of our next generation that Rick dedication The Titan’s Curse to Topher.
For over 15 years, Camp Half-Blood Austin has spread the love of books through immersive role-play to generations of Austinites. And in 2020, CHBA went online to reach more demigods nationally and internationally!
3 years ago Topher realized that we could reach more kids by bringing our special blend of literature and role-play to Austin’s Title 1 schools. Thus our non-profit, Between-the-Pages, was born.
Going into Title 1 schools with Topher-Talks and the Narrative Thread Project, we bring Performance Readers from the community and books that are representative of the community we serve. From Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, by Kwame Mbalia to Sal and Gabby Break the Universe, by Carlos Hernandez, our performance readers engage the kids in the narrative to help them become the heroes in their own story.
We see our kids go from hesitant readers to confident heroes who are ready to take on the Universe and that is our passion.
Hector Leal
Narrative Thread Director
From Camp Trainer to activating heroes all year with Narrative Thread…
From Trainer to Quest Leader to Stunt Trainer and being an all-around inspiration during the tough covid years, bringing the excitement of Quest to zooms, Hector has helped awaken the hero – and reader! – within.
When Topher decided to bring the magic of Camp Half-Blood Austin to at-risk classrooms, Hector was ready to go. As Narrative Thread Director of Between The Pages, Hector oversees the logistics of our Hero 101 Training Teams and helps our partner schools show their kids that they can be heroes too.
Isaiah Apfel
Camp Director
It all started with a Camp…
Isaiah first fell in love with Camp at 9 years old. Going from camper to counselor to camp director, Isaiah has known and loved Camp Half-Blood Austin in its every aspect.
When Topher set off to reach more demigods, Isaiah was all in. As Camp Director of Between The Pages, Isaiah oversees the logistics of Camp Half-Blood Austin and keeps our camps teams all moving the same direction.
Meet Our In School Programing Team
Hector
Da'Mon
Joe
Lexter
Selah
Meet Our Camp Half-Blood Austin Team
Ryan
Megan
Adele
Elle
Simone
Julian
Catherine
Tristan K
Graham
Tristan M
Cullen
Ethan
Katie
Hannah
Troy
Dayln
Erin
Pallas
Bailey
Katie
Carter
Matt
Drue
Monika
Seamus
Jessi
Max
Dayln
Nell
Nick
Allegra
Paul
Lauren P
Hestia
Lauren G
Sam
Jeremy
Sasha
Sadie
Shai
Sabrina
Taylin
Isabella
Wil
Kato
Mika
Skye
Vi
Ian
Ruby
Ryanna
India
Sofia
Caele
Ansley
Aaron
Sofia
Nikola
Itai
Livia
Natalie
Our Heroes in Action
Imagination, teamwork, problem solving and above all kindness are the qualities that set our kids up for success. From Social Activists to Musicians, Biomedical Engineers and Harvard graduates, let me introduce you to some of our heroes in action!
Between the Pages is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit supporting childhood literacy, using books as tools to immerse economically disadvantaged and avid readers in an engaging recreation of their favorite books, fostering literacy, creative role play, cooperative problem solving and above all kindness.
Contact Us at support@between-the-pages.org
@2024 Between the Pages | 5214 Burleson Rd., Suite 204, Austin, TX 78744 | (512) 222-3053