By JasonSummer is by far my favorite season for a number of reasons. First and most importantly, there is no school. Having no school is great because I have much more free time to pursue other things and also have more fun. Another great thing about the summer is of course, the weather. This aspect of summer is universal for everyone, not only students. The amazing weather of the summer calls for activities like the beach, cookouts, concerts, festivals and things of that nature. Here at More Than Words we love summer and we have a number of displays on different aspects of summer fun. For example we have a display on Barbequing, one of the books titles is “The Ultimate Barbeque Bible”. Towards the end of the month More Than Words is hosting a barbeque the whole team will be at...

The Importance of Public Speaking By Jaime People say that standing up in front of people is nerve racking, but that it also build character, and I strongly agree. On the 23rd of June my teammate Kirk and I cohosted the Question Zero night event here at More Than Words. I had to stand up in front of a crowed of people and introduce myself, as well as talk a little bit about how I heard about MTW and what I have accomplished since being here. I was already used to talking about my life and how it is changing for the better, but I still was nervous and at the same time.  In the end it felt really good to represent the business during the event and it helped me to be prepared when events like this happen. In the end I do think public speaking is truly important if you ever plan on work...

By Marceline and Jen, TONIGHT at 9PM the Celtics will be playing the Lakers in game seven of the NBA finals. I (Jen) am from Boston and personally don’t follow the Celtics team but I (Marceline), a native New Yorker, think that the Lakers are good, but the Celtics are better.   In fact I am confident that the Celtics are going to beat the Lakers. They have Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Rasheed Wallace, and Rajon Rondo. As a New Yorker I am rooting against the Celtics, so I hope the Lakers will win, but I think they’re going to have to bring their A-game because I can tell Kobe Bryant really wants that 2010 ring. Even though I’m not a fan, I’ve noticed that the Celtics work together kind of how MTW works to empower us youth. MTW is a youth run business to he...

By Jaime, I recently read an article in the New York Times about making a very important decisions: to go to college or not after high school. Both sides made valid arguments, talking about what should a high school student should do with the next step in his or her life. I read that there is a ratio if a high school student is ranked among the bottom quarter of their high school classes 80% will probably never get complete bachelor's degree or even a two year associates degree. So thinking about it if you do go to college after high school and you were one of those students who are in the lower percent you'll be paying for college and possibly not even get your degree. I also read about that professor Rosenboum at Northeastern said that the job market will be needing thousands of nurse's...

HELP SPREAD THE WORD!!! By Francis and Henry The MTW team has a chance to win tickets to a Red Sox game!!! The TOP 5 reasons why the MTW team deserves to win the tickets are: •    To celebrate the end of a good school year. (Everyone on the MTW team has an educational goal) •    To celebrate the end of an awesome Fiscal Year. (We work hard every day to reach our business goals) •    To celebrate our teamwork. (MTW works as a team to run our business, and sets good examples for other youth) •    MTW is very youth-driven (The youth push themselves to hit their outcomes) •    MTW is all about Empowerment, Community, and Leadership (We can show these skills even at a Red Sox game). You c...

By Chloe, So here's the deal guys: this weekend is More Than Words 2nd Annual Spring Cleaning Weekend. No worries - It doesn't involve windex and cobwebs, tt's all about the books! Our goal is to have 6,000 items donated to our store, just this weekend. Yes, we know that's a big number, but were pretty good at creating high expectations for ourselves. A lot of people come into More than Words asking how this business came to be, and how we continue to run it? Our answer: "We are empowering youth to take charge of their lives by taking charge of a business." Everything here is youth led; so help us take charge. Your donations will help us to continue running training sessions for other youth, helping them become determined that they can reach for high expectations, just like we've learned ...

By Edwin: As a book enthusiast, I wanted to share my list of must read top 5 novels. In the 5 position is The Crucible, if you're into witches and the 18th century, check it out. Number 4 is Of Mice of Men, two old friends search for work in rough economic times and their friendship is tested. Third place has to go to Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens and it’s a must if your interests include classics. My second must read has to be The Scarlet Letter, it includes adultery, plans for murder, and redemption. Even though I haven’t finished this, The Great Gatsby book is definitely my favorite so far. I think F. Scott Fitzgerald was a great author in his time and this was probably his best work, and a reflection of his life. So those are my favorites, please come in and check us out...

By FrancisPhoebe Russell is six years old, and when it comes to the true meaning of "Service" she knows what she’s doing. Phoebe has raised $3,736 dollars in two months, and 35,000 pounds of food. Thanks to Phoebe,  her family, and friends helping to spread the word more than 123,000 people will have meals. Phoebe became “Tyson’s Hunger All-Star “When she raised 15 tons of chicken for 120,000 people in her San Francisco community.  I'm so happy Phoebe's inspiration continues to spread! What a gift this little girl has & I can't wait to see what her future holds. It’s so rare that a child this young can spark a fire of inspiration in adults around the world.For more information and to watch Phoebe in action follow the link below:http://www.huffing...

Conscious Leadership, by Charissa: The Authors globe recently joined More Than Words for an author event and afterward posted a blog article about the visit to our store. I just read a article about the article. I found the blog post to be very insightful, and included a lot of information.  In this article I found several things interesting. Surveys had shown that 80% of Americans believe business is too concerned about making a profit and not enough about responsibilities to workers, consumers, and the environment.  I find this part of the article interesting because I didn’t know that 80% of Americans thought that way.  Over all this article was great, and we’re glad to have events that continue to shape More Than Words into a beautiful community! Follow thi...

April Fool's Day, By Edwin   April 1st, otherwise known as April Fool’s day; a day full of pranks, lies, and watching your back. Google decided to kick today off with a prank that could possibly confuse all its users. They announced that they officially changed their name to Topeka in respect to a town in Kansas who changed their name to Google. They said they have a lot in common and is the only way to show back respect to this town. The Google name is way too well known for them to just change it; they would lose money with that mistake. Watch out for pranks – everyone’s a target!

Millions of people drink coffee everyday, it wakes people up and gives them an energy boost in the mornings. Recent research also shows it's saving lives! Scientists have proven that women who drink 3 or more cups of caffeine lost less brain tissue called white matter than those who didn't. That's the part of the brain that helps people's memory and coffee stops your brain from aging. Strangely men who consume the same amount don't show any benefit from drinking it. The exact reason isn't known for the gender difference but scientists think its something to do with hormones. Something to think of when you're offered a second cup.

Blog by Devon. Last week, Francis & I, gave a tour of MTW to Jeffery Simon, the Director of Infastructure Development for Massachusetts, who is going around the state seeing how stimulus money is affecting people. The tour was a big deal - we got to show a very important man what More Than Words means to the community and to us youth. The tour started off as a normal tour, then we got into why we are here and how More Than Words has been helpful to our lives. Also, we got to show how the money from the stimulus, that people donate, and from customers in the store is real helpful and going to good use. More Than Words is a very important place for us youth to work and to change our lives. We found out Mr. Simon wrote an article on the state blog! We want to thank Mr. Simon for coming to...

Response to the article Youth Today: They Won't Stay Outside Forever: Black Young Men and Unemployment by Karen Pittman and the Forum For Youth InvolvementBy Edwin: A poor white kid has a better chance of getting a job then a middle-upper class African American. I think people are too judgmental and need to give others a chance. 34.5% of African Americans are unemployed. I think they need to do better in education and things would work out better in the world for them. Barack Obama is passing a new bill starting jobs for many people not just blacks. He is doing the right thing and he shouldn’t have to point out one race only to step it up.http://forumfyi.org/content/youth-today-they-won%E2%80%99t-stay-outside-forever-black-young-men-and-unemployment

By Devon. More Than Words is having the Brandeis Slam Team for our open mic night. What is slam poetry? It is one of the most virtal and energetic types of poetry there is. Slam poetry is strong, with rhythm! An actual Slam is like a battle between one another or two teams competing against each with the poetry they have written . So stop by More Than Words Friday March 19th - 8pm - to witness the Brandeis Slam Team. Check out our events page for more info.

National Grammar Day? lol... Today is National Grammar Day so march forth on March 4 to speak well, write well, and help others do the same*! Grammar has changed a lot over the years from old English to slang text messaging. The question is now why? Well my opinion is in the 1400s and 1500s people use to use big complicated words and lots of them because authors got paid by word so they just blabbered every word they can think of. Now people are always busy and on the move, so when you write something like a text message you just want to get the point across with the person understanding what you are saying in the least amount of letters. Sometimes this quick and unclear new form of writing can be confusing to the reader if they dont know what your intent is. Therefore grammar is importan...

My name is Vince and a few weeks ago I met with a professor from Brandeis that assisted in the process of completing my college essay. Her name was Professor Tetrault and brought forth a lot of her own experiences to aid me. The colleges look at every detail in an essay and the edge I had by having Professor Terault to lend me helped me to work out the kinks to make a clear and effective essay. My advice to those who are taking part in the college process is to always seek help or guidance from someone who has a good understanding of what needs to be done so that you get a feel of what is happening. The essay is a big part of the whole process, it gives the colleges an understanding of a lot of qualities and attributes you are going to bring to their college. It is always good to have id...

March Madness, By Jesie. Well as most of us know March is upon us and yeah, St. Patrick’s Day, but me as a sports fan it’s time for March Madness!  This brings up a good book that became a movie: Glory Road - which is a great & inspiring basketball story about Texas Western Miners in the year of 1966, changing African American athletes forever. Glory Road is the true story about how the Texas Western Miners got a bunch of great African American basketball players, but due to racial problems coach Don Haskin has some second thoughts about even playing his African American players, even though they dominated the court when they stepped on.  All and all they make it to the NCAA final four but ended up losing 67-69 and UC went on to the finals. I liked this book bec...

As the host of the event, and on behalf of More Than Words, we are proud to welcome back Ms. Anita Diamant on this coming Sunday, the 21st of February! She will be answering questions composed by our own youth, and asked by you, our proud customers, reading a segment from her newest book, Day After Night, and signing books for anyone who has a copy, or buys one from our store! The event begins at 3pm and lasts until 5! Come sit, chat with Anita, and enjoy our fabulous café treats!!

Hi my name is Jesie, I am a partner at MTW and today’s topic is "Kindle." After researching about kindle I found out that not only do you have to pay $300 for the device but every book that you download is at least $9.99. Why should we have to pay for the device and still get additional fees for the books we download? I can easily download as many songs as I want to my iPod for free! In addition, the memory space is low - only holds about 200 books, and a book shelf can hold a lot more. Nowadays people don’t even have to leave there house for anything: food gets delivered, TV and movies can be watched online, and now you don’t even have to leave your house to get a book! Personally, I say get out and get some fresh air.

Third Time's a Charm! By Kirk, Hi, my name is Kirk and I am a trainee at More Than Words. I have attempted to become an associate two times before but this time around I have confidence that I will make it though. MTW really helps you set up your life and helps you create goals and achieve them. Now being here for a full month I feel like I am making a big difference in my future by getting my life essentials such as getting my Massachusetts I.D and opening a bank account. Also MTW transitions shifts have a new set up which I really enjoy called affinity groups. Affinity groups allow me to work with youths on the same level as me in education which is very helpful. I look forward to becoming an associate so I can further my self efficacy on transitions!

A Day with TFA, By Francis Over the weekend we had a Teach For America event, which was an awesome experience. The TFA alums came to enjoy coffee, tea, read books and volunteer their time which was very helpful to our store. They also made a lot of book donations to help move our business forward. They even helped out with some of the regular MTW operations, such as pre scanning and managed sections. We really enjoyed having the alums to teach them more about what More Than Words really is. Everyone was energetic and willing to help - it made the day go by smoothly, and was a lot of fun!

Employee of the Month Dinner By Edwin Being employee of the month requires hard work but the reward is worth it in the end. Being able to pick any restaurant for a dinner is a big perk. I’m excited and have a lot of options in mind. Earning employee of the month means you have had good punctuality and attendance, worked hard with a positive attitude which I am proud to be acknowledged for it. I’m going with a group of youth from More Than Words that also won the award and I’m looking forward to going to an all-American restaurant and enjoying sirloin steaks and burgers.

Michael Jackson's More Than Words Resurrection By Reynaldo A. Rodriguez, stage name "Michael JUDGM3NT Jackson" Starting as a Trainee here at More Than Words a year ago wasn’t that bad; I got to learn a lot of new things right from the beginning. I always came to work on time, was ready to work, and, to be honest, kind of childish because I was new to the team. But I continued to grow with both my behavior and professional skills. From then to now, as a Senior Partner, I’ve made a lot of new good friends and, at the same time, learned a whole lot more about the King Of Pop (the one and only Michael Jackson). Almost everybody at More Than words calls me Michael Jackson not because I like his music; I can dance like him, sings like him and talk like him. Not to me...

--The True Heart of More Than Words--My name is Heather, and I have had the honor of being a part of the More Than Words team for almost 5 months now. I have completed my training, and am due for a performance review very soon. However, I am very distractable and often need to be refocused because, as a singer, I find it difficult to go through my day without randomly emitting a tune. I hum, whistle, or sing whenever I can, and often don’t realize I am doing it until I am asked to refocus on the task at hand. In fact, I am so musically minded that I feel most at home at More Than Words Open Mic nights. Performers from all over Boston come to our store to read or recite their poetry, prose and essays, sing songs, rap, and even perform comedy routines. I perform at every Open Mic, and ...

I have never heard of e-books until reading about Kindle. It is so simple to buy books on Kindle: just press a button to take you to Amazon’s store, type in a title or author, and press buy. Many people find e-books more helpful because of its convenience and it takes little time to get your favorite books for $9.99 or less. There are about 240,000 titles available for on Kindle. The only negative about it is that you can only buy books from Amazon’s store. Also, when you’re done with a book you will not be able to sell or trade it. According to company stats when people buy a book on Kindle, they keep buying the same number of physical books as they did before. They buy nearly twice as many e-books as paper books. When you buy a book, you can share it with a friend freel...

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal called Good News in the Daily Grind states that coffee has some surprising health benefits. Most people think coffee as a energy boost or a fast way to wake up, but what if there was a way coffee could help you with a health problem you may face one day in life? You would think a person who drinks zero cups a day would be healthier then the person who drinks five cups a day, but studies show the different amounts of coffee one may drink will have different health benefits - for example averaging three cups a day can lower your risk of Type 2 Diabetes by 25%. So stop on by More Than Words Bookstore and Cafe to get some freshly Starbuck's brewed hot or cold coffee and toss your health risk out the window!

Hi my name is Charissa, and I am an associate at More Than Words.  To be cafe trained is one of the most exciting and excellent experiences you can have while working at MTW.  It is excellent because you get the chance to interact with customers, and work up on the storefront for an entire shift.  I slowly went through a process of training with some of my youth teammates - Heather and Phillip.  During training I was surprised to learn how simple brewing coffee actually is, and also how fast our cookies bake.  I also love counting out money in the register because it gives me time to practice working with change. Today was my first time being independent in the cafe, and it went great!  I made three drinks for customers: a small coffee with cream, a large moc...

Hi, my name is Jesie, and I thought I’d start our blog off just by sharing with you my favorite things about More Than Words. I started working at MTW four months ago, and I have really enjoyed the ups and downs of maintaining a good and steady job. I have taken away a lot from the transitions shifts, because our transitions (case) managers really help us stay on track and set the bar high for ourselves so we can be held accountable. On the business side, I’ve just finished training in the café, and I’ve learned a lot about marketing and customer service. The business meetings we hold once a week with the entire staff team is great because we learn how to work as a team to figure out how we can improve the business. At MTW we have to have some type of education plan, which at first, I have...

More Than Words is a place we learn job skills for running a business and other professional skills to take forward into our next jobs. Through our blog we would like to show what we do and how we do it, and connect to other youth and prospective employees, customers and volunteers. Since our blog is written by the youth, it will give our readers an insight of what it is like to work at MTW.   More Than Words is a unique bookstore and café that helps youth take charge of their life by taking charge of a business. Working at More Than Words can be a very difficult but worthwhile opportunity to learn through an outstanding job training, punctuality and attendance expectations.  In this youth blog we will talk about our experiences here at MTW, what it’s like to m...

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