Freedom Writers

Tonight I had the most amazing opportunity to listen to Erin Gruwell and Maria Reyes speak. Hearing their story first hand is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Myself and three hundred other teachers in the district had the opportunity to attend an evening hearing them tell of their challenges, their motivation, and their accomplishments. We were remotivated to do do our jobs, to follow our passion, for each individual child. There is hope in each child. We must not think of teaching to the tests, but rather teach to the children, teach to the individual. I am humbled and hope these words can express the sincerity, my desire for you each to read, watch and listen to their stories.

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'Freedom Writers' is inspired by a true story and the diaries of real Long Beach teenagers after the LA riots, during the worst outbreak of interracial gang warfare. Erin Gruwell, whose passion to become a teacher is soon challenged by a group of Black, Latino, and Asian gangbangers who hate her even more than each other. When she begins to listen to them in a way no adult has ever done, she begins to understand that for these kids, getting through the day alive is enough - they are not delinquents but teenagers fighting "a war of the streets" that began long before they were born. Erin gives them something they never had from a teacher before- respect. For the first time, these teens experience a hope that maybe, they might show the world that their lives matter and they have something to say.

After a tragedy shook the student body, Erin searched for a way to address the issues in her students' lives. Assigning them The Diary of Anne Frank, she found that many students were able to identify with Anne's challenges growing up in a war zone.

It was her next assignment that would profoundly change her students' lives; she asked them to keep a journal, recording their experiences, their emotions, their challenges, and their triumphs. "The kids learned to pick up a pen instead of a gun, and the act of writing saved them. Erin asked them to write about their wars and battles and it opened the gates for them to share their lives, which no one had ever asked them to do before. Through Anne Frank, she opened their eyes to a thirteen-year-old girl going through a war of her own and how writing helped her cope with her situation - and then, Erin showed them how to apply that to their own lives.

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