There is a power in the written word, a wonderful tool to express feelings, describe experiences, even change lives. It can create bonds between people who couldn’t appear to be more different, and open new worlds to both author and reader. And this brings us to the Long Beach Writers.
A small group of students at Wilson High, the self-proclaimed Long Beach Writers began last year when English teacher Devon Day encouraged her students to consistently write in their journals, and what resulted were passionate tales of glory and hardship and humor all rolled together – mostly by young students who had never before had much interest in writing. Day pushed them to empty their souls into the books, and with practice and praise came self-confidence and pride in their work. Most importantly, came ambition.
The group dubbed themselves the Long Beach Writers, and met frequently after school. But their plans were not confined by pen and paper, or even the classroom. Cross-country pen pals were made, published authors were befriended and field trips were planned. The Long Beach Writers morphed into more of a social community than a writing group.
Day took the opportunity to let the students’ minds run wild, and worked tirelessly to turn their ambitions into reality. In the past year, the Long Beach Writers have formed close bonds with no less than three published authors, visited Chapman University and the Museum of Tolerance, spoken with three survivors of genocides, hosted their pen pals from a small West Virginia school and even returned the visit, took a tour of the US Capitol and had dinner with the original class from the film Freedom Writers.
Theirs is a tale of determination, passion and the written word. And we’ll be bringing you more stories from the Long Beach Writers in the coming days.
By Ryan ZumMallen, Managing Editor