SAVE THE DATE: ROSS GAY

February 27th, 2025

Ross Gay is interested in joy.
Ross Gay wants to understand joy.
Ross Gay is curious about joy.
Ross Gay studies joy.
Something like that
—
Ross Gay — Poet, Essayist, & National Book Critics Circle Award Winner — will visit ACS with a profound mission: to explore and understand joy.

Ross Gay is the author of four books of poetry: Against Which; Bringing the Shovel Down; Be Holding, winner of the PEN American Literary Jean Stein Award; and Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude, winner of the 2015 National Book Critics Circle Award and the 2016 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award. In addition to his poetry, Ross has released three collections of essays— The Book of Delights was released in 2019 and was a New York Times bestseller; Inciting Joy was released in 2022, and his newest collection, The Book of (More) Delights was released in September of 2023. Read more about Ross Gay’s Yearlong Experiment in Willful Gladness.

Stay tuned for additional details!

Ross Gay— On the Insistence of Joy interview with Krista Tippett on On Being : Listen HERE.

To learn more about Ross Gay and his work, click HERE.

Asheville City Schools Staff Celebration

May 31st, 2024

As the academic year drew to a close, it was time to celebrate the incredible dedication and hard work ACS staff had put into shaping the future of our students!

The Asheville City Schools Foundation was thrilled to invite all Asheville City Schools' staff to a well-deserved celebration of their achievements. The celebration took place on Friday, May 31st, from 4 pm to 6 pm at the Wedge Brewing Company. As a gesture of gratitude, complimentary drinks and massages from Massage on Wheels were offered to all ACS staff members. We looked forward to sharing that special evening as we celebrated the successes of the past year and looked ahead to the bright future we would continue to build together.

Happy Summer!

Mosaic REalty’s 2nd annual art walk & benefit

May 2nd, 2024

Thursday, May 2nd marked Mosaic Realty's successful collaboration with 14 local art galleries and 15 nonprofits for their 2nd Annual Art Walk and Benefit. This engaging community event showcased the vibrant talents of local artists while shedding light on the meaningful missions of each nonprofit. Attendees were treated to delightful refreshments and beverages, along with the chance to purchase raffle tickets for exciting prizes at every gallery, with all proceeds directed to the featured organization. Furthermore, each gallery generously contributed a portion of its sales from the evening to its designated nonprofit. Notably, this year saw Mosaic Realty partnering with the United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County to introduce a new initiative: the raffling of a Volkswagen ID.4, with proceeds directed towards supporting the participating nonprofits. The Asheville City Schools Foundation was a proud participant, and we were thrilled to witness the overwhelming community support for our mission of doing Whatever it Takes for all students to thrive.

in Real life after-school community celebration

April 26th, 2024

The In Real Life After-School Community Celebration at Asheville Middle School was a blast! ACSF gathered with our IRL students and families for an evening of games, prizes, pizza, and celebration marking the culmination of a rewarding and enjoyable school year. Students eagerly participated in bike races courtesy of Asheville on Bikes and enjoyed complimentary ice cream from The Hop! ACSF was able to recognize the unwavering commitment of our esteemed DREAM Team, as well as commemorate the achievements of our graduating seniors. Many of our community leaders, partners, board members, and program providers were able to join us, making the evening even more special.

Jason Reynolds presents Look both ways: progress and resistance in creating equitable education

February 29th, 2024

Hosted at the AB Tech Conference Center, our youth and community joined us for an evening with Jason Reynolds and Asheville High/SILSA high school student artists as they explored Looking Both Ways. Participants were invited to stroll the student art show while enjoying complimentary ice cream from The Hop and popcorn from Poppy Hand-Crafted Popcorn. Our first speakers were student winners from our spoken word contest followed by a 40 minute presentation and reading from Jason Reynolds, and ended with a 20 minute Q&A.

Jason Reynolds is the former National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature of the Library of Congress — and a magnificent source of wisdom for human society as a whole. He’s driven by compassion and the clear-eyed honesty that the young both possess and demand of the rest of us. Ibram X. Kendi chose him to write the YA companion to Stamped from the Beginning. In his person, Jason Reynolds both embodies and inspires innate human powers of fortitude and imagination. Hear him on “breathlaughter”; the libraries in all of our heads; and a stunning working definition of anti-racism: “simply the muscle that says humans are human… I love you, because you remind me more of myself than not.”

Jason Reynolds — Imagination and Fortitude interview with Krista Tippett on On Being : Listen HERE