On Friday June 18th, about 30 ninth-grade students at the Jeremiah Burke High School in Dorchester presented their final projects from The Courage of My Convictions program to their teachers, fellow classmates and friends from The Max. These students, led by teacher Caitlin McGrail, read from essays they had written about their America, following the example of LeAlan Jones and Lloyd Newman from one of the 9th grade anchor texts, Our America.
Similar to the students who presented last year, the students were asked to take a "long and hard look at their communities," describing in detail the sights, smells, sounds and feel of their homes, neighborhoods, towns and cities. Once again, we were honored to hear stories about Boston's neighborhoods that were honest, realistic, heartfelt, moving and hopeful. Some students also prepared additional components, ranging from maps, posters and photo collages of their homes to Power Point presentations, complete with music and animation.
In the coming weeks, we hope to be able to share excerpts from these essays with you on this blog, as we did last year. We provided the students with stenographers' notebooks and pencils, to encourage them to continue to observe and write about the world around them, to be reporters for their America, just like LeAlan and Lloyd.
"On even the darkest days in our beloved Boston, you remind me that there is hope for a brighter tomorrow. These texts have ignited an academic spark in all of you that I have have created a generation of young citizens who are aware of your ability to have a voice in your community. Thank you for your courage in sharing your America."
-Ms. McGail's letter to her 2010 ELA 9 students, in the preface to their collection of essays and poems
