Did Erin Gruwell really help her students?
Horace Hall, a government and economics teacher during Gruwell’s time at Wilson High School, said that Erin really did help her students and “gave the students an opportunity to dream, maybe for the first time.”
Who are Erin Gruwell’s parents?
Erin Gruwell was born in Glendora, California to Stephen Douglass Gruwell, a formal baseball scout for the Anaheim Angels, and Sandra Faye Alley. Her parents divorced when she was still a young girl.
Why did Erin Gruwell and her husband divorce?
Erin Gruwell and her husband did divorce for reasons similar to those presented in the film (pluggedinonline). Similarly, you may ask, what is Erin Gruwell doing today?
What happened to Erin Gruwell from Freedom Writers?
Erin Gruwell stopped teaching and has devoted her time to the Freedom Writer foundation. Some of the Freedom Writers are currently part of the staff at the Long Beach Unified School District. One student, whose sole mission as a freshman was to “make Ms. Gruwell cry,” is now a teacher at one of
What happened to the students in the Freedom Writers?
Gruwell said all of the Freedom Writers graduated from high school and most went either to a city college or university. More than half graduated with college degrees.
Did Erin Gruwell's husband leave her?
Erin and her husband did divorce in real life, and for similar reasons. All the pain from her personal life just pushed her more to help her students graduate. And the more her dad saw this, the more he began to support her. Although Gruwell gave up a lot for The Freedom Writers, she also gained a lot.
Who passed away from Freedom Writers?
Armand JonesArmand Jones, who plays Grant Rice, died in the lobby of a Denny's restaurant early on the morning of March 17. Mr. Jones was an ambitious, bright-eyed 18-year-old whose dreams of a career in entertainment were starting to come true with his role in the movie.
Does Erin Gruwell still teach?
Erin Gruwell Through the Freedom Writers Foundation, she currently teaches educators around the world how to implement her innovative lesson plans into their own classrooms.
Is Erin Gruwell remarried?
Scott CaseyErin Gruwell / Spouse (m. 1990–1994)
Why is Freedom Writers banned?
Banning of the book in schools Administrators objected to racial slurs and sexual content in portions of the book.
What happened to Armand Jones?
Armand Jones, 18, was shot to death early March 12, 2006. He was an aspiring rap artist and actor.
How accurate is the movie Freedom Writers?
In real life, however, Erin Gruwell actually did do some great work at Woodrow Wilson High School (whose name a Change.org petition is now urging to change) in Long Beach, but real life is, of course, more ambiguous than the movie. Gruwell did a lot of good with her student, but other teachers in the school did too.
What happens to Eva in Freedom Writers?
Afterward, Eva is attacked and threatened, but ultimately spared by her fellow gang members, who dissociate from her, and she moves in with her aunt for safety. Meanwhile, Erin asks her students to write their diaries in book form. She compiles the entries and names it The Freedom Writers Diary.
Did any of the Freedom Writers graduate college?
Much has changed for Gruwell and her former students in the last 20 years. Gruwell said all of the Freedom Writers graduated from high school and most went either to a city college or university. More than half graduated with college degrees. Several had advanced degrees.
Is the Freedom Writers Foundation still active?
In the years that followed, many of them attended college, began successful careers, and established families of their own. Now, more than 20 years later, they are changing the world as teachers, volunteers, writers, architects, nurses, and techies. The Freedom Writers and Ms. G remain close to this day.
What is Ms G husband attitude toward her teaching career?
What is Ms. G's husband's attitude toward her teaching career? His attitude is a bit envious and hostile. He feels incompetent because she's teaching students that society has deemed at risk.
What was Erin Gruwell's first job?
For Erin Gruwell, walking into her first teaching job was like entering a war zone. Gruwell was given a class of "sure-to-drop-outs," students no other teacher wanted, students who weren't expected to succeed. The school was tough, racially divided, and gang-infested. Fights and even murders were part of the students' experience. Some of the kids were homeless. Others came from broken or abusive homes. They saw people they knew using drugs every day. There were few places to go to be safe and few people they could count on.
What did Gruwell's students write in their diaries?
Inspired by their readings and field trips, Gruwell's students started keeping diaries in which they wrote about their daily battles and experiences. For some of them, Gruwell's class was the only place where anyone wanted to hear their stories. For others, it was the first safe place to share them.
What did the kids in the Gruwell story look like?
Some of the kids were homeless. Others came from broken or abusive homes. They saw people they knew using drugs every day. There were few places to go to be safe and few people they could count on. Gruwell was white, wore suits to class and looked like the well-educated product of a safe suburban life.
Who brought Miep Gies to the Freedom Writers?
Gruwell also brought Miep Gies to visit the students and share her experiences. Miep Gies was deeply moved by the students' concern and commitment to change, calling them "the real heroes.". Eventually The Freedom Writers' stories gained media attention.
Is Erin and the Freedom Writers a book?
Many of her freedom writer students from the early years of teaching at Long Beach High School have gone on to college and are now teachers themselves. Erin and the Freedom Writers have just published a new book: TEACHING HOPE. In 2009, the original Freedom Writers project celebrates its 10th anniversary.
Our Story
In 1994, Long Beach was a racially divided community filled with drugs, gang warfare, and homicides, and the tensions on the streets had carried into the school halls.
Erin Gruwell
Erin Gruwell is a teacher, an author, and the founder of the Freedom Writers Foundation. By fostering an educational philosophy that values and promotes diversity, Erin transformed her students' lives.
Freedom Writers
On their first day of high school, Erin Gruwell's students had only three things in common: they hated school, they hated each other, and they hated her. But all of that changed when they discovered the power of telling their stories.
Where did Sue Ellen graduate from?
And after the diagnosis, Sue Ellen’s grades improved. She graduated from Wilson and obtained degrees from Long Beach City College and Cal State Long Beach. She now works in the Freedom Writers Foundation created by Gruwell in 1997. “Erin was the first person to tell me I could go to college, the first person who believed in me,” Sue Ellen said.
What is the Freedom Writers Institute?
Gruwell’s foundation created the Freedom Writers Institute, a development program instructing educators on how to engage and empower their students. Gruwell said more than 600 teachers have attended the Institute from all 50 states, along with 20 countries. The foundation also gives scholarships to high school students to go to college.
Most of the Freedom Writers joined the Freedom Writers Foundation led by Erin Gruwell
After graduating high school, most of the Freedom Writers formed the Freedom Writers Foundation. Erin created the Foundation to spread the message about issues teenagers face in high school.
Some of the Freedom Writers never expected to graduate high school
Sue Ellen Alpizar is the perfect example of a student saved by Erin Gruwell. “By the age of 15, I had experienced the loss of my brother,” Sue told Spectrum News 1. “My father was an alcoholic. My mother was neglectful. She had a mental illness. I had been homeless and I felt so completely lost.”
What did Erin Gruwell say about self promotion?
In defense of the critique of being too self-promotional, Gruwell said that it was attention forced upon her in the media as a catalyst for education reform. She said that she would be profiting from self-promotion if she were, but she hadn’t. Erin Gruwell in 2015 — From Erin Gruwell on Wikipedia Commons.
Who is the supporter of Gruwell?
Supporters of Gruwell, including Carl Cohn, former Long Beach Superintendent, defended her devotion to her students. “She turned her classroom into a family,” Cohn said. “And this family was a positive substitute for the negatives — the really big-time negatives — in their lives.”.
What does Polacheck say about Gruwell?
Polacheck says that she understands why teachers and staff at the school might be upset. Gruwell’s classes had kids who wanted to transfer in, and Beard said that when students wanted to transfer classes, “it wasn’t really a big deal.”.
Did Erin Gruwell work at Woodrow Wilson High School?
In real life, however, Erin Gruwell actually did do some great work at Woodrow Wilson High School (whose name a Change.org petition is now urging to change) in Long Beach, but real life is, of course, more ambiguous than the movie. Gruwell did a lot of good with her student, but other teachers in the school did too.
Who ordered Night by Elie Wiesel?
The real department head, Westphal, said that Gruwell was allowed to use the full book room and that when Gruwell requested copies of Night by Elie Wiesel, Westphal ordered it the following year. She also rebutted Gruwell’s claim that her professional dress like business suits led to opposition, saying:
Who said that any large urban high school was going to have problems?
A Long Beach board member, Karin Polacheck, said that any large urban high school was going to have problems, but that Gruwell probably overstated its problems. Polacheck was more understanding of the fact that some of Gruwell’s students had been exposed to gangs, and that the film wasn’t dependent on that.
Who defended Gruwell in Wilson High School?
Conflict within the Wilson High School English department was there, according to Cohn. Some employees at the school wrote to Cohn that “she ought to be reined in,” but Cohn as the most powerful person in the school district defended Gruwell.