This Issue:

Table of Contents

Cover Story

Cover Story - Spanish Version

Mini-Lesson

Comprehension Quiz

Teacher's Guide and Worksheets

Heart and Soles

After starting and running four businesses and losing by a sliver on TV's Amazing Race, Blake Mycoskie wanted to get away from it all. In January 2006, he escaped to Argentina, in South America, where he learned to sail, dance and play polo. He also visited poor villages where few, if any, kids had shoes. One day, while sitting in a field on a farm, Mycoskie was inspired to do something. "I said (to myself]), I'm going to start a shoe company, and for every pair I sell, I'm going to give one pair to a kid in need."

So, using his own money, Mycoskie started a shoe company. He named it Toms: Shoes for Tomorrow. The company came out with its first collection of shoes for men and women last June. By the fall, Toms had sold 10,000 pairs online and in 40 stores. The shoes are priced at about $38 a pair.

Mycoskie says the slip-ons are modeled on shoes traditionally worn by Argentine workers. "I thought they had a really cool style," he says. His version of the canvas shoes goes one step further: It comes in bright colors and patterns.

Toms shoes are sold in 300 stores across the U.S., and will soon be in stores in Australia, Japan and Canada. The company will introduce a line of kids' shoes in May.

On Sole Patrol

Last October, Mycoskie returned to Argentina with a couple of dozen volunteers and 10,000 pairs of Toms shoes. "I always thought I'd spend the first half of my life making money and the second half giving it away," he says. "I never thought I could do both at the same time."

Most heads of companies have the title "chief executive officer." But Mycoskie calls himself the "chief shoe giver." He plans to return to Argentina later this year to give away more shoes. He also wants to expand his shoe drops to Africa and Asia. "I believe Toms is going to give away millions of shoes one day," he says.

Next: Discoveries From the Land Down Under