Washington, D.C. — In my spare time, I volunteer tutor for the Reading Partners school program at Dorothy Height Elementary School. At the end of the school year, we are allowed to give our reading buddies a gift book. It made total sense to me to give them bookmarks too. I loved seeing their surprised faces when they saw their names done in calligraphy with fancy flourishes.

A little bit later in the summer, my sister asked me to make bookmarks for her first-grade students. She asked for a simpler, unflourished style. There was such diversity in the names of her students. She picked a bright orangey-pink for the accent ribbon.

My sister's cat Smokey messing around with the photoshoot.