Through these efforts, Erin Gruwell and her students formed a bond that transcended their differences. She also took them on field trips to museums and cultural events, and she brought in speakers who could offer insights into the challenges they faced. She encouraged her students to write about their own experiences and feelings in journals, whih she collected and read.
Through these lessons, she helped her students to see the similarities between their own lives and the struggles of those who had come before them.īut Erin Gruwell didn’t stop there. She began by teaching them about the Holocaust and the Civil Rights Movement, using books like The Diary of Anne Frank and The Autobiography of Malcolm X. She saw the potential in her students and was determined to make a difference in their lives. However, Erin Gruwell refused to accept this reality. They were divided by racial and cultural differences and had little hope for their future. Most of her students were from low-income families and had experienced violence, racism, and poverty in their lives. The story of the Freedom Writers began in 1994, when Erin Gruwell was assigned to teach a group of freshmen English students at Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach.
