![]() ![]() Īfter her year of student teaching, Gruwell returned to Wilson as a full teacher, this time with a class of sophomores. ![]() Gruwell took the students to see Schindler's List, bought new books out of her own pocket and invited guest speakers. When one of her students asked her what the Holocaust was, she was met by uncomprehending looks-none of her students had heard of one of the defining moments of the 20th century. Gruwell told her students that it was drawings like that which led to the Holocaust. However, a few months into the school year, one of her other students passed a note depicting Sharaud (an African American) with large lips. One student, a boy named Sharaud, had recently transferred to Wilson from a rival high school where he had allegedly threatened his teacher with a gun. She was assigned low-performing students in the school. Gruwell began student teaching in 1994 at Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach, California. I think that the real fighting should happen here, in the classroom." Career She reasoned, "I thought, God, by the time you're defending a kid in the courtroom, the battle's already lost. After watching the 1992 Los Angeles riots on news coverage, she decided to change her profession to a teacher because she believed educating students could make more of a difference. She earned her master's degree and teaching credentials from California State University, Long Beach, where she was honored as Distinguished Alumna by the School of Education.Įrin originally intended to go to law school to become a lawyer rather than a teacher. She graduated from Bonita High School in La Verne, California, and the University of California, Irvine, where she received the Lauds and Laurels Distinguished Alumni Award. Her parents divorced when she was still a young girl. The 2007 film Freedom Writers and 2019 PBS documentary, Freedom Writers: Stories from the Heart, are based on her story.Įrin Gruwell was born in Glendora, California to Stephen Douglass Gruwell, a formal baseball scout for the Anaheim Angels, and Sandra Faye Alley. The presentation is sponsored by the Knox Cultural Affairs Committee, Educational Studies Department, and the Western Illinois Reading Council (WIRC).Erin Gruwell (born August 15, 1969) is an American teacher known for her unique teaching method, which led to the publication of The Freedom Writers Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them (1999). In the book, Gruwell discusses how she challenged her students to overcome the seemingly insurmountable problems of poverty, racism, violence through writing. Through the experience Gruwell and her students wrote and published The Freedom Writers Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them, which was later the basis of the 2007 movie Freedom Writers, starring Hilary Swank. Gruwell guided 150 of her students, many of whom were written off by the education system, to use the power of education to graduate from high school and attend college. She earned her Master's Degree and teaching credentials from California State University Long Beach, where she was honored as Distinguished Alumna by the School of Education. She currently tours around the world to teach educators how to implement her innovative lesson plans into their own classrooms.Ī graduate of the University of California Irvine, she received the Lauds and Laurels Distinguished Alumni Award. She created the Freedom Writers Methodology, a progressive teaching philosophy and curricula designed to achieve acceptance and excellence from all students. ![]() Gruwell is the founder of the Freedom Writers Foundation. The presentation is free and open to the public. in the Kresge Theater in the Ford Center for Fine Arts. Acclaimed teacher and author Erin Gruwell will present with remarks focusing on Educational Equality and the Value of Diversity on Thursday, September 28 at 7:00 p.m. ![]()
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