Erin Gruwell, president of the Freedom Writers Foundation, speaks about the hardships that her former students faced at Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach, California Tuesday night in Albert Taylor Hall. Gruwell’s presentation was sponsored by over 20 organizations and nearly 600 people attended. Kellen Jenkins/The Bulletin

At a university that is known for the education of teachers, the story of Erin Gruwell and “The Freedom Writers” can be an inspiration.

“Like many teachers, I was brainwashed to teach to the test,” Gruwell said.  “But Maria Reyes was the first kid to teach me ‘don’t teach to the test, teach to me.’”

Gruwell gave a presentation about her experiences teaching underprivileged high school students last Tuesday to a nearly full Albert Taylor Hall.

Gruwell was a teacher at Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach, Cali. where she taught underprivileged students. When she first started teaching, she realized that the students had given up hope for a better life

Then, when she found a note that depicted one of her African-American students with exaggerated lips, she became furious. She compared the racism in her class to that which occurred during the Holocaust and was shocked to find out that her students did not know what the Holocaust was.
Gruwell said that the violence that occurred in the everyday lives of her students made them think that the cycle of a poor quality of life was inevitable. Gruwell realized that it was this exact attitude that was perpetuating the cycle so, one day in class, she encouraged her students to “toast to change” in their lives.

She then engaged her students by challenging them to compare the lives of Anne Frank, Romeo and Juliet and other literary and historical subjects with their own lives. In Romeo and Juliet, they associated the feud of the two families with gang war and, in Anne Frank, they found a girl who was against the odds and trapped and learned to overcome difficulties, and even death, through writing.

Gruwell said that her students felt like they lived in a war zone, so she juxtaposed their lives to the lives of children in actual war zones.
“I thought it was really good,” said Britten Kuckelman, freshman history major. “You can actually change someone by just being there for them. Change is possible for people who want it.”

Throughout their time spent in Gruwell’s class, the students became motivated and started to improve their grades in all of their classes.

In addition to sharing her story of overcoming odds, Gruwell also gave advice on teaching during her presentation.

“As a teacher, I knew that I was competing against pop culture,” Gruwell said. “I knew that if my kids had a TV clicker in hand, they would turn the channel on me, they would tune me out, they would go to the next song.”

To solve this problem, Gruwell incorporated pop culture into her lesson plan. For example, she played “Respect” by Aretha Franklin to teach students about rhyme and meter.

To some people, experiences like those of the Freedom Writers are all too real.

Cathy Terrell, Emporia High School English as a Second Language teacher and ESU alum, was raised in an abusive home and a neighborhood where drugs and prostitution were prevalent. At one point, she was placed in special education because of her grades, though she says anyone who knows her now would know that she did not belong there.

“It was a teacher in high school who recognized my potential,” Terrell said. “I still remember the first time when my teacher asked me, ‘Have you ever thought about going to college?’ And I am not kidding you, I’m not making this up, my response to her was, ‘College? What’s that?”

Recently, USD 253 was granted a program that is similar to Gruwell’s teaching philosophy. The program is called Advancement Via Individual Determination, or A.V.I.D. It is not designed for students who get either high or low grades, but for students in the middle with, for example, a 2.0 or 3.0 grade point average, Terrell said.

“(It’s for people) who can really succeed and actually do well and go to college, but maybe don’t have the right direction or the support, or even the academic skills or tools that they need,” Terrell said. “What the A.V.I.D. teacher teaches them is, basically, academic success skills.”

The first A.V.I.D. class will be offered in January at both Emporia Middle School and Emporia High School. Even though A.V.I.D. is not based off of Gruwell’s teachings, it is similar, Terrell said.

The feature film titled “Freedom Writers” is based on Gruwell and her class and stars Hilary Swank as Gruwell. “Freedom Writers” is also the title of the published compilation of writing from Gruwell’s students about their life experiences.

“I wondered if the movie would be true to the actual story and it seems pretty much the same,” said Emily Hilton, freshman psychology major. “I really liked her stories of all the kids and how she really inspired them, that was amazing.”

Gruwell was sponsored by Community Hornets, Student Success Programs, Public Affairs and Marketing and the Special Events Board and about 20 other co-sponsors.

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