Andover Bread Loaf A Phillips Academy Outreach Program
Fall/Winter Newsletter 2016
From the Director Andover Bread Loaf transforms students, teachers, schools, and communities by igniting a passion for learning through written self-expression.
The ABL Antidote to Violence and Injustice The teachers, mentors, young people, children, and youth-serving organizations involved in 2016 Andover Bread Loaf writing workshops came together this summer having experienced, like the rest of the world, the trauma of persistent violence and injustice. Four main workshops used writing, free and creative expression, shared inquiry, and “collective genius” to discover our voices and develop our strengths as teachers, learners, and advocates for peace and equity. For three weeks in July, more than 70 high school students and 19 writing leaders took part in the Lawrence Student Writers Workshop; some 30 middle school students and six writing leaders gathered for the Rising Loaves program at the Lawrence History Center; and 35 first- through fifth-graders were guided by 14 writing leaders in the Slice at the Boys and Girls Club of Lawrence. These workshops were so compelling that our ABL writing leaders offered more workshops for all age groups throughout the rest of the summer at our partner organizations, the Boys and Girls Club and Elevated Thought. The love and hope expressed in the writing and performances was our antidote to the toxic events that touched us all.
What’s Inside?
Inspire
This newsletter is dedicated to the memory of Michael Armstrong, a primary school teacher in the U.K. and longtime ABL faculty member who died in May 2016. He worked for more than a decade in classrooms and online with Lawrence teachers, students, and ABL staff, helping to set ABL’s sights on a “pedagogy of hope,” which led to good stories, academic achievement, and social action. Michael used literature, the arts, everyday thinking, and the boundless imaginations of children to advocate for a just and equitable agenda for education in Lawrence and beyond.
It’s official!
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ABL awards
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Numbers of note
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Lowell teachers inspired
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Our generous donors
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Photos by Gil Talbot and John Hurley
The ABL Writing Workshop for Teachers also was well attended. Seventeen teachers from Lowell, Boston, Randolph, and Lawrence Mass.; New York City; New Orleans; and Gallup, N.M., convened at Phillips Academy in July. The teacher participants and ABL staff members visited the Bread Loaf School of English at Middlebury College in Vermont, joining a network of teachers from across the country who share the goal of providing teachers and youth with opportunities for learning, agency, and social action locally and beyond. All ABL workshops and related events were provided at no cost to participants—and that is why your continued support is so vital! Veteran writing leader Nathan Baez (in pink) leads a writing prompt with his group from the Lawrence Student Writers Workshop. They are on the steps of Phillips Academy’s George Washington Hall.
Lou Bernieri
Teach
ABL Leaders Recognized in Various Ways Bernieri Honored by Middlebury
Lawrence Gets Its Very Own Day of Writing
For his work as founder and executive director of Andover Bread Loaf, Lou Bernieri was awarded an honorary doctor of letters degree from Middlebury College on August 6, 2016.
In August, The Common Sage, an ABL community partner, hosted community writing clubs at six Lawrence sites: the Senior Center, Elevated Thought, Robert Frost Fountain, the M.I.L.L., Bread and Roses Soup Kitchen, and El Taller café. Community members of all ages wrote based on the prompt “What is your Lawrence story?” Participants later gathered at Ferrous Park for a community open mic and to share their love of community building and writing. This event was the first of its kind for The Common Sage but certainly not its last. City Council President Kendrys Vasquez, along with all city councilors, signed a proclamation declaring that every last Saturday in August henceforth be known as Lawrence’s Day of Writing—an official day that recognizes the power of the pen, the voices it awakens, and the healing it brings to communities. Everyone in the community will be encouraged to share their stories on August 26, 2017. To learn more, email info@thecommonsage.org.
Germán Awarded Inaugural Teaching Scholarship
—Mary Guerrero ABL Rising Loaves codirector and former Lawrence teacher
Impact
The award letter reads in part: “In 1987, when you founded Andover Bread Loaf…you anchored the program in Lawrence, a predominantly Latino community—a revolutionary way of promoting literacy and educational revitalization inside and outside the classroom. The models of youth-led learning and creativity you have put into place are providing an influential template for urban education in cities around the U.S. as well as in international locations such as India, Kenya, Pakistan, and South Africa.”
In late September, the National Council of Teachers of English Latinx Caucus selected Lorena Germán as the recipient of the 2016 Excelencia in Teaching Scholarship for outstanding leadership, service, and innovative teaching practices.
in Lawrence
16 Community partners More than 200 teachers have participated in ABL professional development programs 35+ ABL teachers on full fellowship pursuing—or already earned— master’s degrees from the Middlebury College Bread Loaf School of English 2
Born in the Dominican Republic and raised in Massachusetts, Germán is a secondary school educator in Austin, Texas, and an alumna of the ABL Writing Workshop for Teachers. Germán describes her approach to teaching as “centered in students, love, and justice.” She earned a master’s degree from the Bread Loaf School of English at Middlebury College and is an active member of the ABL Teacher Network.
Nuñez Receives Heritage Award Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera presented Yulissa Nuñez with a 2016 Hispanic Heritage Award on October 10. A 2010 graduate of Lawrence High School (LHS) and a 2014 graduate of the College of the Holy Cross, Nuñez chose to teach in Lawrence because the city helped her see the beauty in her Dominican culture. A community activist and spoken word poet, Nuñez coaches cross country, basketball, and track at the Guilmette Middle School and teaches 10th-grade English at LHS. Through sports, teaching, and community and ABL events, she mentors and advocates for youth in the Lawrence community. Nuñez is a member of The Common Sage and the ABL Teacher Network and currently is enrolled in the Bread Loaf School of English master’s program.
Involvement with nearly 40 local public, parochial, and charter schools More than 60 active teachers, youth workers, and youth writing leaders in ABL’s Lawrence network Since 2006, a 100% high school graduation rate for ABL writing leaders, with 98% going on to college Nearly 800 youth and their family participating in ABL Family Literacy Nights in the past year
New Programs Created
Lowell Teachers Inspired by ABL Writing Workshop Five new teachers at Lowell High School attended the ABL Writing Workshop for Teachers and joined the ABL Teacher Network this past summer. I was one of them! We were inspired and motivated by working with teachers from across the country—as well as students right down the street in Lawrence. Now that we are in our classrooms, we are keeping the spark lit. Right away, we formed an after-school club for writing and sharing poetry. Our first three meetings were attended by 20–25 students. They arrived excited to write, share, and listen to their peers, and many already have begun to lead our writing prompts and warm-ups. We hope to cultivate writing leaders who will be able to initiate and run creative writing sessions for their peers, younger students, and our community. Although our writing prompts so far have been inspired by ABL workshops, they are truly driven by our students. In the year ahead, our goals are to hold weekly writing sessions, host guest writers who will share their work and lead us in writing prompts, attend a writing workshop in Lawrence hosted by ABL, and—based on ABL’s popular family literacy nights—hold our own family literacy night(s) in Lowell schools. We also hope to work with Lawrence Arts House—a creative arts program for healing, empowerment, and self-expression—on their desk dialogues project, an ongoing initiative that involves the creative transformation of old wooden desks to reflect how students feel about their education. —Kendra Bauer, English Language Arts Teacher Lowell High School
Lowell High School students work on a writing prompt during an “Expression Sessions” meeting.
Create Writing Prompt “Going Inside”
e rief imagin ress & g cannot ng is st I lu s r r e y e t b h p a h ted Inside full of c air pollu untold moke & s e t t A book re a g has cig y Her lun others & rsonalit s t ugh s her pe a ions re s e Her tho e v d qu t as se re is e w re s u n t a Its tex s like un f her ith hole inside o s o a Filled w h c is g. h t lu st all her n t her ot Among u o b a r Lowell onde -grader, I just w th 0 1 , h a —Hann
What would so meone think if they Were able to en ter my mind? Buying tickets into my brain as if Seeing a sideshow attractio n? Being able to Access my deep est thoughts, fe ars, and My life. Sitting in a movie thea tr e, and Watching the memories go by , tragic And not thinki ng it was like a sort of Telenovela. Wha t would it be lik e for someone to kn ow me? To feel w hat I Feel, to see wha t I see, and to en dure What I endure on a daily basis And still have the strength an d courage to stan d tall. If someo ne Was able to ha ve a key to my mind, They would se e a warrior in Disguise —Shaiann , 11 th
-grader, Lowell
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Our Generous Donors We gratefully acknowledge our 2015–2016 donors, whose generous contributions once again supported 100 percent of the Andover Bread Loaf operating budget.
Foundations & Organizations Love and community are the foundations of all ABL programs, which strive to make the voices of people of all ages, backgrounds, and perspectives heard.
José A. Dobles ’98 Brooklyn, N.Y. Ricardo Dobles ’85 Holden, Mass. Cynthia L. Greene ’87 Newton, Mass. Tucker Levy ’88 Charlestown, Mass. Abby J. Shuman ’84 Cambridge, Mass. Gabriela Poma ’88 Cambridge, Mass. Scobie D. Ward ’84 Hong Kong
Suppor t
Sanjiv S. Desai ’89 Coconut Grove, Fla.
Bread Loaf School of English Edward S. & Winifred G. Moseley Foundation
Sturgis P. Woodberry ’84 Darien, Conn.
Wanda Y. Mann ’90
Patricia H. Edmonds & George H. Edmonds, P’79, ’82
Anne Marino
Mara Meyer Epstein ’01 & Jonathan Epstein Megan A. Evans ’06 Mr. & Mrs. Patrick J. Farrell, P’08
Merrimack Valley People for Peace
Joshua C. Frechette ’90
Randolph Public Schools
Cynthia L. Greene ’87 & David Jegen
Rogers Family Foundation
ABL Advisory Board Michael T. Cahill ’84, Chair New York, N.Y.
Betty Beland Greater Lawrence Summer Fund
Tenley E. Eakin ’02
Martha Abbruzzese Genieser ’87
Abbot and Dorothy H. Stevens Foundation
Grace Callahan Hagstrom ’56, P’82
Individuals
Steven A. Harrington ’81
Fred L. Adair Jr. ’69 Julia A. Alvarez ’67 & William Eichner
W. Daniel Hall Jr. ’39 Mr. James E. Hughes & Dr. Robi E. Tamargo, P’17
Patrick J. McCormick ’83 & Babette Fahey Rhea U. Modeste Olivia D. Morgan ’90 Peter Z. Perault ’65 Gabriela Poma ’88 Miriam Ganem Reeder ’57, P’85, ’88 Nicole E. Roberts ’02 Norman H. Rothschild ’86, P’10, ’20 Daniel B. Rowland ’58 & Wendy Bolton Rowland ’60 Christopher S.W. Shannon ’07
Tyler A. Jennings ’10
Dr. & Mrs. Michael T. Shannon, P’07, ’12
Alexander D. Anderson ’02
Wayne T. Jervis III ’87
Masood A. Sheikh
Luis B. Andrade ’86
Abigail C. Johnson ’71
Matthew D. Shine ’86
Jules B. Aronovitz ’89
Tiffany D. Joseph ’00
Abby J. Shuman ’84
George D. Avecillas ’13
Jonathan M. Judson ’02
Jeri E. Shuman, P’84
Sharyn Bahn
Mary Claire L. Kennedy, P’01, ’03
Dorothy W. Bisbee ’82 & Michael B. Jacobs
Michael J. Koehler ’94
R. Jordan Smyth Jr. ’84 & Shelagh M. Smyth Watchara Sornwanee ’16
Phoebe W. Brown ’84
Elee E. Kraljii Gardiner ’88 & Robert Kraljii
Mark P. Timken ’87
Samuel C. Butler, Jr. ’72 & Susan Jett, P’03, ’09
Polly G. LaBarre ’88
Andrew S. Tonelli ’02
Christopher G. Cahill ’06
Samuel Kit Bunn Lai ’00 & Sachiko Ozawa ’99
Lisa M. Torrisi
Michael T. Cahill ’84 & Hilary W. Addington
Katrina Moiso Lamkin ’83
Heidi L. Van Horn ’86
Sharon Caico, GP’19 Charles W. Carl Jr. ’48 Hector J. Cintron ’08 Martin A. Clarke ’83
Marcella Larsen ’84, P’18 Tucker Levy ’88 Mr. Thomas P. Lockerby & Ms. Kathleen J. McCrickerd
Kevin A. Connolly ’74
Mr. Eudy D. Lopez Sr. & Ms. Niurka Diaz, P’17, ’19
Laura J. Cox ’88
Angela S. Lorenz ’83, P’14
Dr. & Mrs. Malcolm L. Crystal, P’10
Michael S. MacDougal ’86
Timothy P.F. Davenport ’80 & Samantha Haidt Davenport, P’17, ’17
Ashley E. MacMillan ’04
Sanjiv S. Desai ’89 Lila H. Dolan ’15
Charlotte L. MacMillan ’05 Elizabeth V. MacMillan ’08 Louise P. & John H. MacMillan IV, P’04, ’05, ’08
Catherine D. Tousignant ’88 Suzanne E. Sherrill Waggoner ’80 Victoria Wallace Scobie D. Ward ’84 Nathaniel L. Waters ’95 Juma O. Waugh ’98 Mr. Allen C. West ’48 Sandra Waugh Winans ’69 & Walter E. Winans Jr. Sturgis P. Woodberry ’84 & Carolyn Woodberry Torrance B. York ’84
We offer special thanks to Write To Change, a foundation that has supported ABL students and teachers in myriad ways during the past 30 years.
Andover Bread Loaf Phillips Academy 180 Main Street Andover, Mass. 01810-4161 978-884-8452 www.andover.edu/breadloaf
P = Parent of current or former Phillips Academy student Donor list reflects gifts received between July 1, 2015, and June 30, 2016.
Support Andover Bread Loaf! Please help us make a difference in the lives of deserving students, teachers, and community members who participate in ABL activities. Visit www.andover.edu/ablgiving to make your gift today.