Andover Bread Loaf A Phillips Academy Outreach Program
Spring Newsletter 2013
From the Director
ABL’s reach extends to new sites, encompasses entire schools
The Andover Bread Loaf mission is to promote literacy and educational revitalization in the most economically disadvantaged school systems and communities around the world, particularly in U.S. urban public schools.
In June 2012, Andover Bread Loaf (ABL) launched “Teach Lawrence” (TL), a program that develops new teachers from Lawrence and supports those committed to teaching there. TL is a strategy that ABL is bringing to other urban sites as well—and the response has been electric. This past fall, ABL spawned 10 writing programs for grades 1–12 in Lawrence schools and community organizations, with more on the way. Half are run by youth, the rest by teachers and youth workers, most of whom are volunteers. Each program’s mission includes spreading the love for writing and teaching. (For more on TL, visit www.andover.edu/breadloaf.) This year, ABL also developed a process for whole-school transformation. In two schools in Lawrence and one in Springfield, Mass., groups of teachers attended ABL in-service workshops which they brought back to their students and shared with colleagues. This process jump-starts a writing movement within a school, driven by the burning desire among youth to write. Although this is a new initiative, we’ve already seen a dramatic surge in students’ love for writing and a striking rise in their test scores, especially on the writing section of exams.
Andover Bread Loaf isn’t only about writing— it’s also about giving youth a place in the world where their voices are listened to and respected.
Among many recent ABL highlights was the opening in Lawrence of El Taller, a café/ bookstore created as a cultural center and “Bread Loaf space” for youth. Opened in late fall by Lawrence teacher and Bread Loaf Teacher Network member Mary Guerrero and her husband, Antonio, El Taller (www.facebook.com/taller.bookstore) offers workshops, book clubs, and other programs. Among its more remarkable events are Thursday open mic nights that routinely draw 100 to 200 high school and college youth. With these popular events and other writing programs in the city, Lawrence, per capita, is the hottest youth poetry spot in the region—if not the country.
What’s Inside? Writing Workshop for Teachers
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Lawrence Student Writing Workshop 2
ABL programs foster a happy, supportive, creative community based on love and respect.
Reflections of a Writing Leader
2
International Highlight: Haiti
3
Student Reflections
3
Our Generous Donors
4
Lou Bernieri
ation y Inspir
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Writing Workshop for Teachers
A 20+ year tradition of energizing teachers through theory and practice
Teach
Summer 2012’s ABL Writing Workshop brought to Phillips Academy 18 teachers from Lawrence, Lowell, and Springfield, Mass.; New York City; New Orleans; Port-au-Prince, Haiti; and rural South Africa. Those individuals followed their 500+ predecessors in spending two weeks attending workshops with writers, actors, artists, teachers, professors, and community activists. They engaged in daily writing practice, but also considered best practices, the student-teacher relationship, and classroom management.
Participants maintain the relationships established at the workshop through membership in the Bread Loaf Teacher Network, taking part in conferences, on-site visits, and online communications. Former attendees apply its lessons to their own classrooms, but also say they’ve shared them with other teachers to develop new school programs to benefit both students and teachers—a ripple effect that can’t be measured. The Bread Loaf Teacher Network is founded upon the expertise, wisdom, and spirit of veteran educators like Patricia Early (ABL 2012), a teacher in New Orleans Public Schools for 23 years. For Patricia, teaching is a vocation, not just a job.
Jamele Adams, a.k.a. Harlym 125, is not only a well-known Spoken Word Poet, he is also Dean of Student Life at Brandeis University. As a poet and educator, Jamele is an ideal role model for inner city youth.
Lawrence Student Writing Workshop
LSWW and “Slice” inspire student writers One hundred Lawrence Public School students (grades 5–12) of all academic abilities took part in Summer 2012’s threeweek Lawrence Student Writing Workshop (LSWW). Five days a week, program partic ipants were actively engaged in writing and creative arts through photojournalism, multimedia projects, and fine arts activities. As always, there was a special emphasis on social justice and self-expression; instruction was provided by 25 high school and college writing leaders. As a culmination of the workshop, each student presented a project to all participants in the entire LSWW program, as well as family and friends, at a standing-room–only exhibition
at Steinbach Theatre in Phillip Academy’s George Washington Hall. An LSWW offshoot, the second Bread Loaf “Slice” took place at the Lawrence Boys & Girls Club last summer. Twentyfive first- through fourth-grade students were mentored by 10 high school writing leaders. Slice participants shared their final projects in a well-received event held at the Boys & Girls Club. LSWW receives some 200 applications annually and an additional 100 or so inquiries. It’s clear the community’s appetite for this distinctive style of creative learning is insatiable.
Reflections of a Writing Leader
Former ABL student steps up and takes the lead After my ninth ABL summer—four as a student and five as a writing leader—I traveled to Mumbai, India, with Jimmy Brenner, first-time film editor and ABL writing leader. At the Diamond Jubilee High School, a private school for grades 1–10, we facilitated a workshop for teachers and librarians. They produced a lot of writing in two hours—clearly, they were hungry for a “slice of the loaf.” We also helped them integrate our workshop into their lesson plans. Later, we met with students, who eagerly took to Writing for the Community, a
teaching method that uses writing as a tool to create change. They made vibrant English and Hindi “fact sheets” about tuberculosis—a very real problem in that part of the world—and posted them around the school. Bread Loaf opens doors to learning for both students and teachers. In Mumbai, I saw how creativity allows children to have hope for their future, as ABL first did for me in 2004. The DJHS students understand that they really can make a difference. —Edwin Santana
When a young writer steps up to the microphone in front of 250 people, he stands there with confidence, knowing that the entire Bread Loaf community stands with him.
International Highlight
Strengthening Haiti’s crippled education system
In 2012, one of those invited was Benaja Antoine, literacy monitor and teacher. Unable to find enough Kreyol-language books for his students, he decided to write some himself. As part of his ongoing efforts to cultivate leadership skills while applying classroom lessons, Benaja and several of his students put on a poetry conference in Haiti last fall. In addition to teaching, he works as a program coordinator for Haiti Partners conducting teacher training for seven schools close to the earthquake’s epicenter. In discussion groups Benaja applies lessons from Andover, opening seminars with the familiar ABL prompt: Reflect on your favorite class. What did you love about it?
Student Reflections
Lawrence Family Development Charter School’s Writing Night In January, more than 150 people attended the 6th-Grade Family Writing Night at LFDCS, where students shared letters and produced collaborations, including the following excerpt about ABL: Our writing comes from our mind, soul, spirit, and hearts. Bread Loaf lets us share part of ourselves and we get to know each other better. When we share our poems, we talk about our “real selves” and it is our time to shine. We are allowed to write about something we have “first-hand knowledge” about, which is ourselves, and this helps us build more confidence and self-esteem. The prompts allow us to have a voice in our classrooms and in the school and we have a chance to “get things off our chest” instead of holding everything in. We trust our writing so much more and don’t even get nervous sharing in front of the class anymore. Finally it is a time when we get to be funny, nice, happy, and sometimes even sad.
Create
ABL is in the middle of a three-year initiative in Haiti, whose already challenged education system was devastated by the 2010 earthquake. Eight Haitian teachers have been invited to attend the ABL Writing Workshop thanks to a grant from the Abbot Academy Association.
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3rd grade
Our Generous Donors We gratefully acknowledge our 2011–2012 donors, whose generous contributions once again supported 100 percent of the Andover Bread Loaf operating budget.
Foundations and Organizations The Bread Loaf School of English
Support
To celebrate ABL’s 25th anniversary in July, founder Lou Bernieri is presented with a proclamation from ABL Advisory Board members Michael Cahill ’84 and Ricardo Dobles ’85 to honor Bernieri’s extraordinary work in creating and nurturing the program.
ABL Advisory Board Abby J. Shuman ’84, Chair Cambridge, Mass. Michael T. Cahill ’84 New York, N.Y. José A. Dobles ’98 Brooklyn, N.Y. Ricardo Dobles ’85 Holden, Mass. Richard B. Gorham ’86 Andover, Mass.
P
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W. Daniel Hall Jr. ’39
Abbot & Dorothy H. Stevens Foundation
Galen R. McNemar Hamann ’95
The Stone Soup Foundation
Jane L. Herzeca ’05
Linda M. Rodriguez ’93
The White Fund
Paula Rand Hornbostel ’88
Christopher P. Rokous ’80
Write to Change, Inc.
Abigail C. Johnson ’71
Wilfred J. Romero & Elizabeth Nelson, P’12
Individuals Mr. & Mrs. Adolfo Acevedo Sr., P’12
Andrew V. Brown ’88
ve r Bread L o d
ch
Pr o
g
Kevin J. O’Brien ’92
Gwendolyn Kay Johnston ’92 Tiffany D. Joseph ’00 Jonathan M. Judson ’02 Donald M. Kendall ’85 Erin M. Kerrison ’02 Michael J. Koehler ’94 David Goldstein Kopans ’87 Polly G. LaBarre ’88 Tucker Levy ’88
Kingsley A. & Sophia A. Orraca-Tetteh, P’95 Louise Parsons Parry ’90 Alida B. Payson ’01 James W. Reidy ’86
Wendy Bolton Rowland ’60 Martha C.H. Schnure ’06 Dr. & Mrs. Michael T. Shannon, P’07, ’12 Christopher Sheridan Winn Shannon ’07 Katherine & Steve Sherrill ’71, P’05, ’07, ’10 Abby J. Shuman ’84 Veronique S. Prado-Lacoste Smondack ’98
Angela S. Lorenz & Giovanni Figliomeni, P’14
Katherine M. Bulger ’11
Michael S. MacDougal ’86
R. Jordan Smyth Jr. ’84
Michael T. Cahill ’84
Lisa A. Stott
Charles W. Carl Jr., MD ’48
Mr. & Mrs. John MacMillan IV, P’04, ’05, ’08
Josef J. Tatelbaum ’78
Emily C. Kalkstein Carville ’94
Ashley E. MacMillan ’04
Mark P. Timken ’87
Jane Chang
Charlotte L. MacMillan ’05
Andrew S. Tonelli ’02
Jessica H. Choi ’08
Elizabeth V. MacMillan ’08
Lisa M. Torrisi
Martin A. Clarke ’83
Jonathan P. Malkiel ’90
Svenja Vehrenkamp ’09
Stephanie S. Colello ’09
Anne Marino
Christopher J. Wade ’08
Laura J. Cox ’88
Carolina E. Marion ’08
Victoria Wallace
Courtnie R. Crutchfield ’09
Katharine M. Matsumoto ’07
Mr. & Mrs. Ry S. Ward, P’13
J.Q. Newton Davis ’86
Patrick J. McCormick ’83
Nathaniel L. Waters ’95
Brigid Q. Donahue ’96
Joshua R. McLaughlin ’02
Juma O. Waugh ’98
Tenley E. Eakin ’02
Travis R. Metz ’87
Mr. & Mrs. George Wermers
Mr. & Mrs. William R. Engstrom ’48, P’84, ’86
Casey G. Mixter ’03
Adam K. Wise ’83
Andover Bread Loaf Phillips Academy
978-884-8452
Help us continue to make a difference in the lives of these children and teachers. Make a contribution to Andover Bread Loaf.
www.andover.edu/breadloaf
Please visit www.andover.edu/ablgiving.
Andover MA 01810-4161
Nicholas Olmo ’98
Mr. & Mrs. Mark J. Bucceri
Donor list reflects gifts received from July 1, 2011, through June 30, 2012.
180 Main Street
John H. Moulton ’88
Rogers Family Foundation
Sharyn Bahn
Scobie D. Ward ’84 Hong Kong
Gloribel Gonzalez
Sarah & Michael Grossbard ’84, P’15
Allegra B. Asplundh-Smith ’04
Travis R. Metz ’87 Wellesley, Mass.
Olivia D. Morgan ’90
Edward S. & Winifred G. Moseley Foundation
Heidi H. Ashbaugh, MD ’02
Tucker Levy ’88 Charlestown, Mass.
Martha Abbruzzese Genieser ’87 Michael Gottfried & Maureen Byrne, P’09, ’12
W. Austin A.M. Arensberg ’01
Donald M. Kendall ’85 Weston, Conn.
Hee Jung Shin Moon ’84
Lawrence Family Development Charter School
Elaine Giblin Adams ’69
Cynthia Greene ’87 Newton, Mass.
Joshua C. Frechette ’90
P = Parent