By a "weird, happy accident" Dave Eggers created a transformative tutoring and writing center for K-12 students in his San Francisco neighborhood. More remarkably, his success on Valencia street has been replicated in cities throughout the country. Professional writers, publishers, professors, and graduate students give one-on-one attention to children in these centers and in school-based programs.

The community must be a part of 21^st century learning, and Eggers offers an inspiring model that started with an eBay purchase of 10 old computers for word processing.

Eggers' first book, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. What is the What?, his recent book about the Lost Boys of Sudan, also became a bestseller. In addition to writing novels, Eggers runs the quarterly literary journal McSweeney's, a monthly magazine (The Believer) and various other projects.

The tutoring project was born when he moved these endeavors out of his kitchen and into some rented, retail space. The publishing activities in the back of the building filled the space with professional writers and editors who would take a break, or a make a point of coming in, when school let out. As the roster of volunteers grew, they began going directly to the teachers and the students.

Kids flock to the centers, perhaps because the "weird, happy accident" created an inviting haven, and because they will find somebody to take their ideas seriously. The building is zoned for "retail," so Eggers and friends decided to sell pirate supplies. The wooden legs and eye patches were intended as inviting décor, but they actually turn enough of a profit to pay the rent. Pirates don't play in Brooklyn, so that center is the Brooklyn Superhero Supply Store. Los Angeles has a Time Travel Mart.

For his work that began on Valencia Street, Eggers won a $100,000 award and a chance to make a wish from the Technology, Entertainment, Design conference. Accepting the award, Eggers said:

"I wish that you - you personally and every creative individual and organization you know - will find a way to directly engage with a public school in your area and that you'll then tell the story of how you got involved, so that within a year we have 1,000 examples of innovative public - private partnerships."

The growing, loosely affiliated, efforts to provide a pathway for the community to help the schools has its stories gathered at Once Upon a School. Ted.com hosts a video of an inspiring presentation by Dave Eggers about this effort.

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