“I was so impressed that her emphasis was always on her students and not on herself,” said junior IES major Caitlyn Nguyen, a LEAD 320 student, “She is who I want to be.”Įqually affected by the “phenomenal” students she met at Chapman, Erin pronounced her time with the Chapman students “Magical!” and said that she feels now like she is part of the Chapman family. Students, alumni and faculty stayed for over an hour to chat with Erin and have her sign their copies of The Freedom Writers Diary. Erin Gruwell brought that slogan to life in the four hours she spent at Chapman on Tuesday night. “Changing Education, Changing the World” is the College of Educational Studies motto. “As she told story after story,” said senior, Tala Khalaf (Business Administration major & Leadership Studies minor), “I came to realize how essential stories are to identity and leadership.” Erin’s advice to aspiring educators is to “teach to the person, not to the test,” and “always be you – be yourself, and start now to make a difference.
Gruwell talked about the many young people whose lives have intersected with her own, gave some of the backstory to both the feature film and the upcoming documentary about theįreedom Writers, and took questions from the audience. “The greatest lesson the Freedom Writers and I have learned is to validate that everyone has a story,” said Erin. Funding support came from donors Brad and Christine Comp, the College of Educational Studies, the Sociology Department, Wilkinson College, the Career Development Center, and the Student Government Association.įollowing the class session, it was on to a larger presentation to the waiting audience in Sandu Conference Center, which included undergraduate, graduate, and law students as well as alumni and faculty. Sara learned about the Freedom Writers in a leadership course in Fall 2014, and made it her mission to bring Erin to campus in person. Gruwell’s appearance at Chapman was the result of months of planning and perseverance by senior Leadership Studies Intern and IES major, Sara Hilecher.
TEACHER IN FREEDOM WRITERS HOW TO
Today, Erin and the Freedom Writers teach teachers around the country how to implement her innovative lesson plans into their own classrooms.
With her support, they chose to forego teenage pregnancy, drugs and violences to become aspiring college students, published writers, and catalysts for change. She encouraged her at risk students to re-think rigid beliefs about themselves and others, reconsider daily decisions, and ultimately re-chart their futures. The film doesn’t do justice to the real person.”Įrin Gruwell embraces CU Leadership Studies Intern, Sara HilecherĪs a novice high school English teacher, Gruwell fostered an educational philosophy that values and promotes diversity, ultimately transforming her students’ lives. “Seldom does the real person who was portrayed in a film live up to the image in the film,” said senior Film Production major and LEAD 320 student, Chris Brady-Denton, ” but in this case it is the opposite. So deep was the conversation, that students lined up to embrace Erin and have their photo taken with her. Erin shared anecdotes which held the students spellbound as the story of her leadership journey unfolded. To the people who inspired her throughout her life. The discussion ranged from Gruwell’s fears and how she overcame them Gruwell, the educator whose story was the basis for The Freedom Writers feature film in 2007, met with 40 students from a leadership course in a round of question-and-answer which probed the fears, strategies and successes of transformational leadership as it has been practiced by Gruwell. In an evening filled with tears, laughter, hard questions and easy friendship, Erin Gruwell touched the hearts and stretched the minds of Chapman students.
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