Andover Bread Loaf: Writing to Change the World

YOUTH LEADERSHIP • TEACHER INNOVATION • SOCIAL JUSTICE

a nge t he h C o t g Wo r n i t i l r d W

Andover Br ead Loaf A Phillips Academy Outreach Program

“

Andover Bread Loaf embodies the best of Phillips Academy: scholarship, social justice, and a deep commitment to youth leadership. The team’s work is helping to bring pedagogical and policy changes to classrooms, school districts, and entire communities.”

Beth Friedman Director of Outreach, Phillips Academy

ABL’s Mission Through writing, creative self-expression, and the arts, Andover Bread Loaf (ABL) promotes literacy and educational revitalization in economically disadvantaged public school systems and communities in the United States and abroad.

ABL views education through the lens of social justice, ignites a passion for learning, and empowers students and teachers to transform themselves, their schools, and their communities.

A Brief History ABL was launched in 1987 as a site of the Bread Loaf Teacher Network, established by Middlebury College’s renowned Bread Loaf School of English. That summer, ABL’s inaugural Writing Workshop for Teachers convened on the Phillips Academy campus for educators from nearby Lawrence and Boston, Mass., who attended free of charge.

ABL has since created an array of workshops, activities, and events offered at no cost to educators, community members, and pre-K through high school students and their families.

To learn more about ABL, visit www.andover.edu/abl.

Photos by Gil Talbot, John Hurley, Elissa Salas, Jill Clerkin, Teddy Anderson

ABL CULTIVATES A LOVE OF LEARNING

Using words as tools for change Andover Bread Loaf’s “celebratory pedagogy” honors the innate intelligence and creativity of students through an inclusive, engaging, and

ABL Director Lou Bernieri—Bread Loaf School of English graduate, ABL founder, and Phillips Academy English instructor—offers Lawrence students a writing prompt.

student-centered approach. Honed over the course of more than 30 years, ABL’s core principles help to foster the development of eager, confident learners regardless of background or circumstance.

Make it fun and inclusive. In urban Lawrence, Mass., ABL’s longtime hub, more than 1,500 students, teachers, and community members participate annually in activities and events such as: • Summer writing workshops • After-school clubs and vacation programming • Writing conferences • Family Literacy Nights • Open mic nights and spoken-word performances

Develop youth leaders. Each year, ABL trains more than 70 teenagers from Lawrence High School and Phillips Academy as writing leaders, instilling in them a love of teaching and a set of leadership skills that have helped to launch community leaders on their paths toward careers in the advancement of education and social justice.

Work collaboratively. ABL has spearheaded the development of a collective that includes more than 18 Lawrence community organizations, cultural institutions, schools, and businesses that support youth development. Resources and ideas—as well as the teaching and mentoring skills of ABL’s writing leaders—are shared. Collaboration is a critical component of ABL’s success.

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ABL FOCUSES ON STUDENTS IN LAWRENCE

Developing confident, effective youth leaders Culturally rich yet economically disadvantaged, the

on multimedia projects, and explore the history of

city of Lawrence is a lively multilingual community.

their city. They also produce a literary magazine

The children of immigrants often hunger to give

and host a historical exhibition.

voice to their family’s unique history. ABL turns this very human need to be heard—and valued—into powerful storytelling, poetry, and self-expression.

Lawrence Student Writers Workshop—ABL’s flagship student program, Lawrence Student Writers Workshop (LSWW) is held for three weeks

Young people who attend ABL’s five core programs,

each summer at Phillips Academy. Approximately

described below, create, write, and share in a

100 students in grades 8–10 build writing and

supportive environment. This “expanded learning

artistic skills through programming led by ABL

time” yields broad positive outcomes.

teachers and writing leaders. LSWW focuses on

Crumbs—ABL’s program for pre-K through grade 1, Crumbs gets children excited about expressing their ideas and feelings through words, drawing, play

social justice, civic activism, and self-expression through theatre, music, dance, art, photography, and film.

Writing Leader Training—Students in grades

acting, and turns at the mic.

Slice of Bread Loaf—For grades 2–5, “The Slice” runs two weeks in July at the Boys and Girls Club of Lawrence, one of ABL’s many community partners.

Similar to other ABL programs, students write, act, draw, paint, make music, and produce a literary magazine. The program culminates with a student reading and exhibition of their art.

9–12+ are trained during the summer and school year to become writing leaders, who then utilize their skills, energy, and enthusiasm to staff and run ABL programs. These confident young people also spark change in their home and school communities by initiating writing conferences, spoken-word poetry performances, and new partnerships, and by becoming activists for

Rising Loaves—For grades 6–7, Rising Loaves

social justice. Nearly 98 percent of ABL writing

meets for three weeks in July at the Lawrence

leaders report that they matriculate at a college

History Center, another ABL partner. Students

or university, compared to 67 percent of Latinx

write and share their poetry and prose, collaborate

high school graduates across the United States.

ABL’s pre-K to college pipeline of educators, activists, and leaders

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Crumbs

Slice of Bread Loaf

Rising Loaves

Lawrence Student Writers Workshop

Writing Leader Training

Pre-K–Grade 1

Grades 2–5

Grades 6–7

Grades 8–10

Grade 9–college

“

Sometimes the younger children will take to the mic or draw what they want to say.

The storytelling skills are there even if the writing skills are not yet developed.�

James Mora, ABL Writing Leader Shortly after arriving from the Dominican Republic, James Mora enrolled as a sophomore in Lawrence High School. He learned about ABL through his Writing Lab class as a junior, trained as an ABL writing leader, and initiated a writing and arts workshop for elementary school children at a nearby housing project. He is now a college student, ABL summer workshop coordinator, and NextGen youth leader (see page 9).

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ABL SUPPORTS DEDICATED TEACHERS

Invigorating urban educators

“ A BL reclaims the role of teachers as compassionate and effective educators, researchers, and advocates for equitable and democratic public education.”

—Dixie Goswami, Founder, Bread Loaf Teacher Network

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ABL’s pedagogy is spreading far and wide through

Graduate School Opportunities—Each summer,

the hundreds of teachers who attend the program’s

ABL teacher workshop participants visit

transformative summer workshop, pursue advanced

Middlebury’s Bread Load School of English in

degrees, and share their energy and ideas through

Vermont to exchange perspectives, methods, and

a vibrant teacher network.

ideas with fellow teachers, writers, actors, and

ABL Writing Workshop for Teachers—Since 1987, more than 500 teachers, educators, and community activists have attended ABL’s intensive 14-day

professors. More than 60 ABL workshop alumni have earned master’s degrees from the Bread Loaf School of English thanks to fellowships provided by

professional development workshop on the Phillips

the school’s generous financial aid program.

Academy campus. Participants write in many genres,

Bread Loaf Teacher Network—ABL is a satellite

discuss educational theory, learn about creative uses of technology in the classroom, and more. Best of all, they work together regularly with the teenagers in the Lawrence Student Writers Workshop.

of the Bread Loaf Teacher Network (BLTN), an international research-based network that generates professional development opportunities. Through the BLTN, teachers, faculty, and students collaborate

Teachers report that the workshop rejuvenates

to create innovative “blended learning” projects

their passion for teaching, empowers them in the

that enhance literacy and promote understanding.

classroom, and provides a supportive community

Lawrence-area BLTN members work collaboratively

that enriches their professional and personal lives.

with ABL’s Lawrence collective (see page 7) to

Workshop alumni are awarded graduate school credits

offer myriad workshops, conferences, training

by Middlebury College’s Bread Loaf School of English.

opportunities, and school and community events.

“

We hear it from new students all the time: ‘I don’t like to write.’ ABL teachers are privileged to witness students’ growth from disinterest to excitement and selfconfidence as they find their voices.”

Jineyda Tapia, ABL Associate Director Determined to use her education and talents to benefit her home community, Lawrence native Jineyda Tapia became an English teacher at Lawrence High School. In 2009, at ABL’s Writing Workshop for Teachers, she discovered new ways to motivate her students—and a new joy in teaching. She earned an MEd degree from the Bread Loaf School of English and in 2015 became director of ABL’s Lawrence Student Writers Workshop. In 2017, she joined the Phillips Academy faculty as an English instructor.

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ABL THRIVES ON COLLABORATION

Growing an international network

Ummi Modeste

Anna West

Mohsin Tejani

New York City

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Karachi, Pakistan

“My experience at the ABL Writing

“Teachers and organizers really need

“Andover Bread Loaf is our lifeline—the

Workshop for Teachers back in 1994 was

the kind of imaginative rejuvenation and

reason our school exists and prospers!”

transformative,” says Ummi Modeste of

deep retreat that ABL provides,” says

says Mohsin Tejani.

her first connection with the program.

Dr. Anna West. “It assures us that there

“I gained new teaching skills, learned new

is an alternative to the current system of

ways of thinking about education, and met

education, which so often feels flat and

teachers from all across the country.”

unimaginative. At the summer workshop

In 2000, Modeste became an ABL Writing Workshop director and has returned to Andover every summer since.

“The workshop has evolved,” she says.

it in our bodies, conjure it through our writing, and joyfully share our vision of what learning should be.”

“Participants today see teaching as

West attended the ABL Writing Workshop

an opportunity to detect, analyze, and

for Teachers in 2016 and returned in

address social injustice.” Along with

2018 as a director. The energy and

organizing and directing ABL’s New York

purpose she taps through ABL is infused

City site, Modeste has also helped plan

in Humanities Amped, a program she

and lead ABL conferences in Lawrence,

cofounded in 2014 that helps students

New Orleans, the Navajo Nation (Arizona),

become agents of change.

Nairobi, Tanzania, and Haiti.

Adjunct professor, Empire State College • College counselor, City-As-School • Founder, East Brooklyn Poets • Spoken-word performance artist

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we experience education otherwise, feel

Founder, Forward Arts (Baton Rouge) • Cofounder, Louder Than a Bomb youth poetry slam festival (Chicago) • Organizer, Mass LEAP, a Massachusetts poetry educators’ collective

A 1997 ABL Writing Workshop for Teachers alumnus, Tejani has returned to ABL numerous times over the past 20 years as a visiting scholar. In 2010, he founded The School of Writing in Karachi, Pakistan, to serve underprivileged communities through literacy and arts programming based on ABL methodologies. Tejani also collaborates with ABL partners in Mumbai.

“Along with empowering young people, we want to provide more opportunities for youth interaction on issues of peace, tolerance, diversity, and inclusivity,” says Tejani.

Executive director, The School of Writing • Director, inaugural ABL international conference (Karachi, 2000) • Member, Bread Loaf Teacher Network’s Peace Literacy Network

ABL’s Lawrence Collective ABL collaborates with these key partner organizations in Lawrence: Boys and Girls Club of Lawrence • Elevated Thought • Lawrence Arts House • Lawrence History Center • Lawrence Public Library • Movement City • El Taller Café • Lawrence Youth Council • Essex Art Center • Sí, Se Puede • Lawrence Communityworks • various Lawrence public schools and local charter schools ABL partners at Phillips Academy: Addison Gallery of American Art • Department of English • Office of Community Engagement

Vermont Kentucky Navajo Nation New Mexico

Window Rock, Arizona

Louisville

Massachusetts

Lawrence, Andover, Boston, Haverhill, Lowell, Methuen

New York N

NNew York City

Santa Fe

South Carolina Aiken

Pakistan

Louisiana Loui i

Karachi

New Orleans, Baton Rouge ouuge

India

Mumbai

Haiti

Puerto Rico

El Salvador

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ABL INSPIRES DEDICATION

Sharing the pedagogy

“ Under-resourced students and teachers deserve a program like ABL to inspire their work and enrich their lives.

We can’t settle for less.”

—Rich Gorham, PA ’86, ABL Associate Director

It might seem that Rich Gorham lives in two worlds.

Several ABL initiatives are led by Gorham,

A popular English teacher at Lawrence High School

including Family Literacy Nights, citywide literacy

for more than two decades, he is also a Phillips

conferences, the Lawrence Day of Writing, and

Academy alumnus and wrestling and track coach.

the Robert Frost Foundation’s monthly Poetry Hoot.

But there’s an unequivocal connection.

He also helps direct ABL summer workshops.

“Everything I do as an educator is driven by ABL’s core principles,” says Gorham, a Writing Workshop for Teachers alumnus and ABL’s associate director since 2002. “My work has been enriched immeasurably by the teacher network here in Lawrence and across the globe. ABL has taught me that every child is brilliant, beautiful, and magical.”

Gorham’s innovative, nationally acclaimed writing class at Lawrence High School is an incubator for ABL writing leaders. “Writing Lab brings ABL into the classroom and trains high school students how to teach writing workshops for kindergarteners and third-graders. “The positives of cross-age mentoring,” says Gorham, “are undeniable.”

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On an international scale, Gorham is a founding member and director of the Bread Loaf Teacher Network’s Peace Literacy Network. Organized by ABL alumni, the collective brings adults and youth together at sites across the globe to strengthen their communities through writing and the arts.

“ABL recognizes that the power to transform education lies not in the individual, but in the community,” says Gorham. “When young people and adults work together in solidarity and love, we are capable of greatness.”

Gorham’s commitment to youth has been lauded locally and nationally, most notably during Teacher Appreciation Week in 2014 by Arne Duncan, secretary of the U.S. Department of Education under President Obama.

ABL SHAPES THE FUTURE

Helping ‘NextGen’ grow and thrive How can we help underserved communities fight systems of oppression and work for social change?

“Educate and empower their youth—and then network them with other empowered youth across the country,” says ABL Director Lou Bernieri. “And that is exactly the goal of NextGen.” ABL is a founding member of the Bread Loaf Teacher Network’s Next Generation (NextGen) project, which is managed by Middlebury College’s Bread Loaf School of English and funded by the Ford Foundation. Four ABL writing leaders from Lawrence, Mass., were among the 24 students chosen nationally for the project’s inaugural cohort.

“NextGen youth are leaders, researchers, and story­ tellers who are working together to heal the world they’ve inherited,” explains ABL writing leader Amaryllis Lopez.

The remarkable ethnic and geographic diversity of the network—with teams in Georgia, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Navajo Nation in Arizona, South Carolina, and Vermont—gives youth the opportunity to discover commonalities and work intentionally across differences.

The members of NextGen’s six social action teams serve as allies, resources, policymakers, and leaders in their schools, community organizations, and local institutions. They also organize national conferences to further their educational and social justice agendas and build relationships that are key to long-term partnerships.

In just two years, the NextGen cohort in Lawrence swelled from four to 30 youth. More than 100 additional

“

There are too few spaces in this world that truly value youth experiences, voice, and agency.

That’s why ABL and NextGen have been so integral to my growth.”

Amaryllis Lopez, ABL Assistant Director A native of Lawrence, Amaryllis Lopez started in ABL as a fifth-grader and has been a writing leader since 2013— excellent training for her role as a NextGen youth coordinator under the Ford Foundation’s grant. She is an ABL summer workshop director, program director at Elevated Thought (an ABL community partner), college student, and poet whose work explores social justice and Afro-Latinx identity.

teens are working on programs organized by the team.

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A private school with a public purpose

500+

$0

Teachers have attended

Cost to attend

ABL’s summer writing workshop

ABL workshops and programs

Phillips Academy’s four educational outreach programs—Andover Bread Loaf, (MS)2, the Institute for Recruitment of Teachers, and PALS—have long served as resources for students and teachers locally, nationally, and worldwide.

1,500+ Students participate in ABL programming and community events each year

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ABL’s Lawrence, Mass.,

Peace Literacy

collective

Active partners in

Network conferences

98%

hosted by ABL

ABL writing leaders

100+

who report going on

Phillips Academy and

to college

Lawrence High School students help lead ABL activities annually

Andover Bread Loaf Phillips Academy 180 Main Street

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