INDIANAPOLIS — Last week, 13News showed you a chance encounter, captured on camera, at Long's Donuts.
Local musician and author Tevin Studdard happened to run into David Letterman and Caitlin Clark while going for a sweet treat. He even was able to give Dave a children's book he wrote, featuring — ironically — Letterman at Long's!
But Studdard's story goes well beyond that celebrity sighting and his love for Long's.
He's also a champion for literacy and he's helping hundreds of Indianapolis children publish their own books.
At IPS Brookside School 54, 54 students are adding to library shelves with books they wrote themselves.
For example, 6-year-old Mia Edwards, a first grader, wrote "A Princess and Her Wish" about a dancer.
Ten-year-old Henry Phillips, in fifth grade, penned a book called "Henry's Dream," which tells the tale of a kid who plays football and basketball and is encouraged to keep playing, thanks to his friends.
Eleven-year-old Quoy'Aye Spencer, also in fifth grade, wrote a book about a young painter, called "Without Color." Third grader Amara Ramirez wrote a book called "I Love You."
Some stories are created from the students' imagination. Others come from personal experience, like 9-year-old Ramirez.
"It was fun. I wrote about my adoption," she explained. "It's about how my Mamaw adopted me."
All the books at Brookside are by kids in kindergarten through fifth grade who are now proud, published authors.
"That's me," Edwards exclaimed with a smile, as she showed us her photo on the back of her book.
"I was surprised because I didn't think it would be this amazing," Spencer said of her book. "I didn't think I could write a book and now I can write even more because it got easier for me. It was really fun!"
"It turned out great," Phillips said. "Yeah, I mean it's a really good book. I think people really should buy it."
These children's books really are for sale on Amazon — and students get the profits.
Studdard, an IPS grad, is the brainchild behind the project, which is called "LEAD: Literacy, Entrepreneurship and Dreams," which teaches kids how to write and publish books, with the goal of boosting literacy rates at the same time.
He started the program in community centers and parks in Indianapolis this summer.
Brookside is the first school to participate and Studdard said 40 more schools are about to start with their own students.
"It's an incredible thing. I was a creative kid and so I was like, 'Man, it would be cool if kids that age could write their own books and make money from it,'" Studdard said. "It encourages them to read. Now, they're even more excited because it's like, 'Oh man, I got my own book! I want to read this to the class. I want to read it at church. I want to read it in my neighborhood!' and now other kids are like, 'Ooh, you got a book? I want a book, too!'"
Brookside's principal, Shauna Lipscomb, said over the eight one-hour sessions Studdard led with her students, she's seen their skill and confidence grow.
"Oh, they are more excited to read. They are more excited to write. They are more creative," Lipscomb said. "Tevin's changing lives and he's literally going to help literacy across the nation."
Since August, he's already helped 300 children across Indianapolis become published authors.
And the books are selling.
"My parents have bought like ten copies of mine," Spencer said, "and we've sold four already."
But most importantly, LEAD is inspiring in younger students a love to write and read.
"It's super exciting," Lipscomb said. "Our children have loved this entire process from beginning to end."
Studdard told 13News that the city of Indianapolis has learned about his LEAD program and Feb. 8, Studdard's birthday, will be "Young Authors Day" in Indy. There will be a big book fair at Douglass Park, where all the student authors who got published through Studdard's program, can sell their books to the community and keep the profits.