2. In the fall of 1994, first-year
teacher Erin Gruwell began her
career at Wilson High School in
Long Beach, California. The
school had a diverse student
body; "rich kids from the shore
sit next to poor kids from the
projects."
3. Gruwell's call to arms was issued
during her year of student-
teaching when one of her
students drew a stereotypical,
racist cartoon of one of her
students which was passed
around the class.
4. She tabled her lesson plans for
the day and seized the teachable
moment. When she took her
class to see Schindler's List at a
theater in an upper-class, white
neighborhood, she was
disheartened to see women, fear
on their faces, grabbing their
purses.
5. When a local newspaper caught
wind of the reaction Gruwell and
her students received, they
published a front-page article
that ultimately resulted in death
threats against Gruwell.
6. When her professors at UC-Irvine
saw the article, they invited
Gruwell and her students to a
seminar presented by Thomas
Keneally, author ofSchindler's
List.
7. Keneally was so impressed by
Gruwell's class that several days
later, the motley crew was
invited to Universal Studios for a
meeting with Steven Spielberg,
who had produced the film.
8. After these once-in-a-lifetime
opportunities, Gruwell was
summoned to the English
department chair's office where
she was told that she was making
the rest of the teachers look bad.
9. Her request to loop with her students
and follow them into their senior year
was denied and she was given the "at
risk" freshman class. The story of
Gruwell and her students continues
from this point and is told from a
variety of perspectives through
Gruwell's and students' diary entries.
10. Gruwell's new class takes one look at
her and is convinced that they will eat
her alive, just as they have done with
every other teacher they have ever
had. The first entry says, "'These kids
are going to make this lady quit the
first week,' my friends were saying.
Someone else said, 'She'll only last a
day.' I give her a month."
11. In subsequent anonymous journal
entries, the students talk unflinchingly
about their experiences with probation
officers, gang affiliations, substance use,
violence, and racism. A student reflects
on going to the funeral of one of his
friends: "everyone was talking about
'the young boy' who had been taken
away by the paramedics, but there was a
lot they didn't know.
12. They didn't know that he was my
friend and that he had his whole life
ahead of him." Another student
reflects on his or her neighborhood:
"during the day racial tensions rule
the streets, at night gunshots are
heard from drive-by shootings, and
twenty-four hours a day, the gangs
and drug dealers control the block."
13. A dyslexic student recounts his
struggles with school and how
Gruwell gave him the courage to
approach his academics with
confidence and to pursue his true
passion, sports.
14. Gruwell reached her students in many
ways, but perhaps most effective was
introducing them to literature that was
relevant and relatable. She begins
with Durango Street, the story of a
juvenile delinquent who lives in the
projects while he searches for his
biological father. Then, in an effort to
appeal to her students' creativity,
Gruwell led the class in a filmmaking
project that brought the story to life.
15. She even takes a group of students
to see Hoop Dreams. She hopes that
by winning their trust and relating to
them on their terms that she will be
able to convince them that
Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet had
"a little 'something something' for
everyone."
16. The book is broken up into
semesters, allowing readers to see
Gruwell's and the students' growth.
In the spring of 1995, Gruwell
reflects on the inadequacies and
frustrations of the education system.
She vents about being tested by her
students every step of the way and
facing opposition from the
administration as well.
17. Gruwell shepherds her class
through important events in
America's history, such as the
Oklahoma City bombing. One
student noted, "writing about it
made me realize how susceptible
we are to violence...There are
many Timothy McVeigh's around
us every day."
18. Gruwell takes her class to Los
Angeles's Museum of Tolerance
for a private viewing of the
film Higher Learning, which had
just been released. After seeing
the film, the class attended a
panel discussion that included
Mas Okui, author of Farewell to
Manzanar.
