To Found a Father

With this in mind, one begins to worry about the literacy among the youth. During our education is when reading habits are established. These years of our lives are when we are supposed to gain the skills that will set us up for life. In the face of this grim statistic, one might fall to despair, or simply try to improve their reading habits. One student, however, decided to take matters into her own hands. Ayesha Murtaza, a junior at Austin High School, started a non-profit dubbed the “Founding Fathers” whose mission is to improve students reading, writing, and overall literacy.

Founded in the fall of 2023, Murtaza established the non-profit because, according to her, “… the consequences of lacking in historical and linguistic knowledge follow a person for the rest of their life.” As for it’s unique name, Murtaza felt it was important to have a strong, meaningful name and not just one that described the club’s activities.

“We came up with the name after thinking of ways to create not just a historical but also literary connotation behind it, in a way that multiple people would be represented. Thus, Founding Fathers non-profit was born.” -Ayesha Murtaza

FF’s administration is comprised of (from left to right in the thumbnail) the founder, Ayesha Murtaza, co-president Nurman Mahammadov, executive assistant Hao Pham, and Dahlia Goitom, all juniors at Stephen F. Austin High School. The organization has two primary activities: an inter school pen-pal system aimed at improving people’s writing and doing competitive writing. As a pen pal, an individual member would write letters to partners discussing topics of their choice, which the members would then constructively critique during meetings to ensure the author learns something for their next letter. As for competitors, individual members write entries for different competitions in the hopes of improving their skills. In addition, FF features a group of mentors who guide competitors and help them write so they have better chances in the competitions.

“Ultimately, our goal is to have any member join our club and have fun while getting better at reading or writing!” -Ayesha Murtaza

Founding Fathers has partnered schools in Boston, Massachusetts; Chalmette, Louisiana; and even Kempner here in Sugar Land. They have additionally partnered with three other 501(c)3 non profits. All in all, since it’s inception, FF has gained roughly $9,000 in scholarships. On the local side, FF has hosted SAT workshops targeted at the reading and writing portion as well as prep for the UIL essay competition. Excluding its officers, the club has 32 members and is still growing, as Murtaza and her officers set out to “… create an atmosphere that allows for students to appreciate the beauty of literature and history whilst developing their writing skills.”

Of course, their journey has not been without difficulty. The primary issue Murtaza told me about was obtaining and strengthening partnerships with other schools and organizations. However, with time she believes the issue will not be as big of a deterrent to the organization’s progress. On the same note, Murtaza is grateful to members for remaining committed in spite of the challenges in consolidating pen pals. Truly, Founding Father’s story is one to inspire any student to go out and do any and everything they want to do. Some think it is too difficult, that they are too young, but FF proves that one is never too young, and that nothing is ever too difficult. If you are interested in joining, you can check out FF at their Instagram @ahsfounding.fathers. We wish Founding Fathers the best of luck with their goals, and hope to see one of you readers step up and pursue something you’re passionate about.

If you do, the Legend will know, and we’ll be sure to make you famous.