Freedom Writers ~ 1.5.07

[Kamryn]

Okay, I'm excited about my little trip down memory lane. Let me tell you why!

I’ve been seeing this movie publicized on billboards and bus stops, and I thought it was interesting… I didn’t really get the storyline until I started seeing commercials. When I learned more, I also connected it with Dangerous Minds, and saw it as a cliché.

When I heard the commercials, I kept hearing the name Erin Gruwell in the clips and previews, and I knew it sounded familiar. But I didn’t know from where. Tonight, one of my best friends from high school asked me if I wanted to see it, and told me that it was about our high school. THAT GOT MY ATTENTION! That’s when her name rang a bell. LOL! Ms. Gruwell was in her last year as an English teacher at Wilson when I was just coming in as a freshman.

[RedBlackDelta, my little sister is currently a freshman at Poly! Ugh, Jackrabbits…lol. j/k, I’m a PROUD BRUIN! LOL! ]

Ms. Gruwell left a lasting impression at Wilson. The movie did an excellent job of telling her story. It was very accurate, as far as the segregation, her teaching strategies, and ignorance of some of the faculty and administration. I’ll never forget that I FOUGHT long and hard to get into Distinguished Scholars, I was the only black student in many of my AP and Honors classes, and yet I still only graduated with honors. They always found a way to create new rules or “alterations” to the curriculum. My friends and I fought the same battle. Some succeeded, some didn’t. Some had parents to take teachers to court, some students protested, some didn't bother to try and just settled for whatever, etc. etc. But that’s another story. I love my alma mater, but I was glad to finally graduate.

The school isn’t as wild as they made it out to be. I didn’t like how they exaggerated the quad scene. Things were not prim and proper, but it wasn’t that extreme. Long Beach is rough, but I think somethings were a little "extra". I guess that's show buisness. The students did have a lot of crazy things going on at home, but a lot of people do.

I’m calling my former English teacher tomorrow! She was one of my most inspirational mentors throughout high school. We met when I was a freshman and she was planning a trip to UCI to see Dr. Maya Angelou, for the JRs and SRs only. I charmed my way into getting added to the list. I had her for AP English Language in my Jr year, and enjoyed her class so much, that I decided that I would make more progress in her Honors Multicultural Literature for my senior year, instead of AP English Lit. with another teacher. She always told us stories of Ms. Gruwell, and used a lot of her teaching styles. We did the journal exercise, played similar games whcih were more like icebreakers into another lesson, and she even took us to meet a Holocaust survivor. That teacher was hard core. We had homework before we even stepped in her class, within the first week of classes, we had a test on the three books we had to read during the summer and the vocabulary words she gave us to study. She would come in on the weekends and have study sessions, she scheduled AP review sessions outside of class time, kept an open door policy, and we named our homework nights after her. LOL! We had so many vocabulary words (I felt a little overwhelmed when I got the list), timed essays for homework, along with reading assignments and projects that went along with them. That was all in addition to the work we had in class! LOL! She gave us the most homework I’ve ever had in my life, and every second in her classroom was productive. She dared anyone to walk into her classroom late. LOL! You had to be one brave soldior to do that. When I completed her class, I was confident with my writing, and felt prepared for college. This movie brought back a lot of memories for me! 

[Kamryn]

Originally Posted by Kamryn

The school isn’t as wild as they made it out to be. I didn’t like how they exaggerated the quad scene. Things were not prim and proper, but it wasn’t that extreme. Long Beach is rough, but I think somethings were a little "extra". I guess that's show buisness. The students did have a lot of crazy things going on at home, but a lot of people do.

I have to retract this statement. I learned that the quad scene was actually a riot (between the blacks and hispanics) that happened two years before I got there. I vaguely remember hearing about the riot. So the movie was accurate.

[redblackdelta]

[quote=Kamryn;1379179]

[RedBlackDelta, my little sister is currently a freshman at Poly! Ugh, Jackrabbits…lol. jo




Go Jackrabbits!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I miss Poly dearly, but again, don't miss the violence. We had a shooting at the '05 graduation and last year I had phone calls and emails up the yahzoo because of the shootings on and near campus (two of the above involving one of my students) last year.

as a matter of fact, if they wanna make the saint-saves-the-sinners movie, they need to do it on Poly. Every year I marvel at how many students they send to college amidst the epicenter of the gang/racial violence in Long Beach. Poly is dead center of Long Beach and catches all heat.

[Kamryn]

Originally Posted by redblackdelta

Go Jackrabbits!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I miss Poly dearly, but again, don't miss the violence. We had a shooting at the '05 graduation and last year I had phone calls and emails up the yahzoo because of the shootings on and near campus (two of the above involving one of my students) last year.

as a matter of fact, if they wanna make the saint-saves-the-sinners movie, they need to do it on Poly. Every year I marvel at how many students they send to college amidst the epicenter of the gang/racial violence in Long Beach. Poly is dead center of Long Beach and catches all heat.

LOL, you know it's all about the Bruins!

I can only imagine the amount of phone calls you had! Violence has been increasing a lot in LBUSD these last couple of years. I there was a shooting after a football game at Jordan a couple weeks before Christmas. Two other shootings happened within weeks of eachother while I was on my way home from work.

I know about some of the things that happen at Poly, and many of the other high schools in LBUSD. I was an advocate and worked with the city, PTA, and African American Parent Support Group. So I had a lot of access to information about the district that a lot of people don't have. Personally, I really wanted my sister to go to Wilson, b/c although Wilson had some issues, I felt that (compared to the other schools) it was a better place for her to be. But, she's crazy about her beloved Poly. She's in their CIC Program, and plays soccer and the violin for them. I think she felt that she would be following in my shadows if she went to Wilson, so she made that decision. Both schools are good schools. (Ahem, Wilson's better...lol.) So she should be fine at Poly.

[redblackdelta]

you know i have this theory about both poly and wilson. i think lbpd will wait until the wrong, ahem person gets hurt and then they'll finally do something. notice how nothing happens at cabrillo or jordan??? both poly and wilson have strong alumni who will fight to the death, but you let one of the Bixby Knolls kids, or better yet, the Virginia Country Club PACE or CIC kids get hurt in this mess, and all you know what will break loose.

[Kamryn]

Originally Posted by redblackdelta

you know i have this theory about both poly and wilson. i think lbpd will wait until the wrong, ahem person gets hurt and then they'll finally do something. notice how nothing happens at cabrillo or jordan??? both poly and wilson have strong alumni who will fight to the death, but you let one of the Bixby Knolls kids, or better yet, the Virginia Country Club PACE or CIC kids get hurt in this mess, and all you know what will break loose.

Girl, that's not a theory! That's the TRUTH! The unfortunate truth... It's all about politics. If you don't know the game, then you lose... That's one of the most important lessons I learned during my matriculation.

One of my peers had this to say on another message board:

"wilson technically is an "inner-city" school because they are given that distinction based on diversity and we are diverse enough to qualify. and back when this happened, wilson was a pretty bad school (i don't think it was nearly what the movie makes it out to be, but nonetheless pretty horrible academically).
what gets me though is the teacher, she only taught for 4 years. she then wrote her book, became a lecturer at long beach state, and sold the rights to this movie. if she was such a damn good teacher, she should have kept teaching. instead she chose the self-gratifying, high-paying road of selling her exaggerated life story."

Personally, I can't say that I agree with everything she says, but she does make some good points.

[Kamryn]

FYI, for the teachers!

Dear Friends-

I have some amazing news to share with you! AMC Theaters and Paramount Pictures have agreed to let teachers across the country see “Freedom Writers” for FREE for one week! Between January 26 and February 1, AMC Theaters will be celebrating teachers and spreading the Freedom Writers’ message by allowing teachers nationwide to see “Freedom Writers” at no charge!

I urge everyone to tell a teacher to go see “Freedom Writers” at an AMC Theater near them for free! I also encourage teachers to bring their class, their co-workers, or even their families to this special film that is touching the lives of millions.

Please help the Freedom Writers and me encourage educators everywhere to take advantage of this very unique opportunity! Please send the attached press release from AMC to everyone you know (especially teachers!) For further details, go to http://www.amctheatres.com/promos/freedomwriters/.

Thank you for your support and I hope you enjoy the movie!

-Erin Gruwell