Local program
gives kids ‘Freedom’ to open up
By Tenley Woodman Boston Herald Features Reporter
Saturday, January 6, 2007 - Updated: 12:39 PM EST
Writing
can open up a whole new world for youth, and tha's not just a Hollywood
tagline. Local educators have taken the same path as Erin Gruwell,
the real-life English teacher whose story is told in the movie "Freedom
Writers." Academy Award-winner Hilary Swank ("Million Dollar
Baby") plays Gruwell, who challenged tough kids at a Los Angeles
high school to write about their experiences - and had the classroom
hooked.
"What kids
gain from this, they really find that writing is connected to many
areas of the curriculum and to their inner self," said Liz
McKenney, a seventh-grade teacher at East Somerville Community School.
Somerville school
district's Young Authors Program lets kids in grades 1 to 8 try
their hands at creative writing. Each student is required to write,
illustrate and lay out a 26-page book each year.
"The quality of work that comes out of that is significant. Kids
who you don't perceive being on the high end of the grade curve have
to write their own book. The Young Authors Program is representative
of how well our kids can write," said Robert Snow, assistant
superintendent of curriculum for Somerville schools.
McKenney, a 33-year veteran of the school system, said the program
has helped students who might have been overlooked.
"I remember at least a couple years ago there was a student who
was really closed off from the other kids. She very rarely smiled.
The home life was very, very difficult," McKenney said.
"She never, ever truly ever finished anything. In class she was
nice and quiet, but homework was never done," she said. "But
she worked on this book because it was a sense of accomplishment for
her."
Connie Oliver, 17, a junior at Brockton High School, takes classes
as part of the Young Adult Writers Program with Grub Street Inc.,
a writers studio on Boylston Street in Boston.
"Connie is someone who has come to just about every session.
She's very shy, but I think she has gotten a lot out of it,"
said Ethan Gilsdorf, 40, a freelance journalist, poet and Oliver's
mentor with the young adult program.
Oliver said writing is there when teens have no one else to talk to.
"Some teenagers have stress issues. It helps you get out what
you want to get out. Some people can't talk at all. They can't express
their emotions. I know, I'm the same way," said the aspiring
novelist. "It's easier for me to write them down than to say
it out."
Words
of wisdom: Teacher Liz McKenney helps students at East Somerville
Community School with the Young Adult Writers Program. (Staff Photo By
Faith Ninivaggi)
E-mail
Printable
Popular
del.icio.us
