*Deepa Iyer

Thanks to Ms. Bradford and the JEDI team, author Deepa Iyer visited Denver Academy Elementary students on Friday, April 17. She shared her picture book We Are the Builders!

Deepa Iyer speaks 3 languages, but when she moved to the United States at age 12, she felt her accent sometimes got in the way of communicating. So she started writing, and she hasn't stopped! Deepa shared that as an immigrant, she's always been searching for community, so she's written 2 adult books and 1 book for younger readers around that concept. Her picture book centers community helpers, and audience members learned about Builders, Caregivers, Front Line Responders, Disrupters, Experimenters, Visionaries, Weavers, Healers, Storytellers, and Guides. Students and adults raised their hands if they identified with the description for each helper, and Deepa shared how all of the helpers are needed to create and support a community. We're so grateful to Deepa for helping us learn and think more about our roles within our communities!