Vashon has received a $1,000 grant to help students and teachers use global literature to build a deeper understanding about the world and develop several literature-based projects for both the classroom and the community, according to Merna Hecht, an educator involved in the effort.

The project has enabled teachers at the three public schools and The Harbor School to purchase books — from memoirs to fiction — that explore themes of forced migrations, war and poverty around the globe, she said.

Now, she and others involved in the project want to bring Islanders into the classroom who have worked in some sort of service capacity abroad to speak about their experiences.

Those interested should contact Hecht via email at mernaanna@yahoo.com.

The acquisition of the books and the projects they’re spawning, she added, could “make the world a little more humane.”