The Stand
The Writing Our Lives workshop connected 35 youth from Danforth Middle School with presenters and writing coaches despite cold temperatures and tremendous snowfall left from Hurricane Nemo last week.
“Not one presenter called out,” said Marcelle Haddix proudly as parents and Danforth Middle School’s principal, Patricia Clark, shuttled students to the workshops in their own vehicles.
“One young man came in shivering from the walk with no jacket on … that speaks volumes,” Haddix said.
Despite the nearly 11 inches of snow dumped this past weekend from Hurricane Nemo (according to the National Weather Service), students walked as far as from Bellevue Avenue to Danforth Middle School to attend any of the seven workshops being offered by 15 presenters on Feb. 9.
The Writing Our Lives: Read In and Write Out workshop develops, encourages and explores critical reading and writing among youth. Presenters from Syracuse University and area literacy groups volunteer their time to lead students in writing exercises.
Math teacher Antwaun Dixon and Social Studies teacher John Randall were present to see which of their students took advantage of the opportunity to develop their writing and to offer extra credit for participating.
“I make my kids promises, and I try to follow through,” Dixon said.
Students cited a limitation in instruction about African American figures such as James Baldwin, Julia Cooper and Malcom X. However, the district has lost about 22 percent of its teaching positions in the past four years as well as had the charge of implementing new curriculum standards.
Ernest Daily from the School of Education at Syracuse University understands the challenges new teachers may be facing. He encourages teachers to “listen to the perspective that [students] bring from outside of the school building. Don’t dismiss it. If you can combine the classroom experience with their lived experience, that new learning space that you are creating will help them succeed.”
Daily’s interactive workshop used James Baldwin’s poem, “My Dungeon Shook” to show young black males how to overcome stereotypes and reshape how they speak about themselves.
Daily, The Underground Poetry Spot and Syracuse University’s Verbal Blend program all used lyrics and poetry to communicate to students. Other presenters brought in multimedia, video clips of Malcolm X interviews and were adament on creating a “judgment free” learning space.
Portraits of uncommon African American women leaders lined the room during Reba Hodge, Nikeeta Slade and Blair Smith’s workshop about “Reading our Past, Narrating our Present and Composing our Future.”
During lunch, most girls from the workshop freely expressed their desire to branch out and learn about more African American women and their enjoyment of current Black female entertainers such as India Arie, Elle Varner and Alicia Keys as role models and leaders.
“These are things we would like to learn in class,” said eighth-grader Nylaija, who participated in the women’s workshop. “I think it was fun and we should do it again.”
Undergroun Poet presenter and writer, Michael Gaut, shared his concern for how relateable the civil rights movement may feel to youth today but agrees that his students were impressively “engaged with writing and had the most expansive vocabulary.”
With writing prompts so closely focused to identity and self image, Haddix, who continues to present the Writing Our Lives workshop, looks forward to a young girls workshop during Women’s History Month as well as a workshop for teachers and adults.
“When I realize that students weren’t familiar with Spoken Word and certain authors, it was important to me to lend myself to the cause,” said co-presenter Mozart Guerrier.
Presenters agreed that as teachers are pressed with teaching for testing, there is a community of writing professionals willing and interested in assisting with the process of helping youth see themselves in their writing curriculum.
— By Ruthnie Angrand, Community Correspondent for The Stand
