Andover Bread Loaf A Phillips Academy Outreach Program
Fall Newsletter 2014
From the Director
The Network Makes the Difference Andover Bread Loaf transforms students, teachers, schools, and communities by igniting a passion for learning through written self-expression.
What does it mean to be part of an extended network that is working toward social change through education, a network in which teachers, families, schools, youth organizations, and individuals are producers rather than consumers of public school reform? As revealed in this newsletter, it means collaboration, inspiration, action, and impact. Network members are acquiring a new literacy, which includes designing, planning, reading, and writing stories, reports, poetry, arguments, and public documents that reach many audiences. As teachers and students, we’re taking those skills and abilities into classrooms, enriching in- and out-of-school learning, and acquiring the passion for civic engagement and social change. Technology is a boon to the Andover Bread Loaf network. Young network leaders, mentors, and organizers are using social media, mobile technology, and digital tools to connect, collaborate, and take collective action. ABL’s Facebook page, “Voices of Bread Loaf,” is a platform where we document our work and inform people of new developments. The education conference in Haiti (see page 2) was planned by teachers and youth over the wires as well as through face-to-face meetings. Locally, we use technology to keep our constituents abreast of workshops, plays, open mics, Family Literacy Nights, and other programs and events of interest. ABL is a global network. We have colleagues—adult and youth—in El Salvador, Haiti, India, Pakistan, Nairobi, South Africa, and the Navajo Nation who join us in our efforts. Many do not have the resources to travel to other cities or countries, but, as members of the ABL network, we find ways to work together all year round in classrooms and communities in the United States and around the globe.
N.Y.C. teacher Alan Núñez taught the ancient Japanese art of Taiko drumming to teachers and students in ABL’s summer workshops.
What’s Inside? Writing Leaders share skills
2
ABL conference in Haiti
2
New HLL partnership
3
Our generous donors
4
Although they are young, ABL students are a sophisticated spoken word poetry audience. Finger snapping while hearing a poem allows the audience to affirm the writer’s words without drowning out his or her voice.
Lou Bernieri
o ve To D ould Lo W I s g in Fun Th azul. r el cielo a p to r e pod . love to e sky) mundo the blu I would nde del h c ra u g o s t a to rm (be able tar la flo orld) to plan e v in the w lo s r e w o fl t I would es . he bigg el agua (plant t er topar d o p o t ) er love the wat I would . run into o Precesa t a le n b u (be a er ser d o p o t love cess) der I would be a prin 3rd-gra o t le b —Emy, (be a
Inspire
Photographers: Gil Talbot, John F. Hurley, and Jill Clerkin
Writing Leaders Share Their Skills in ALIVE Conference
Teach
Andover Bread Loaf’s college-age Writing Leaders led an ALIVE Professional Development Conference on October 18, 2014. The acronym stands for Academic Success, Language, Identity and Voice for Education. The conference was held at the request of several Lawrence teachers who had observed the talents and enthusiasm of ABL youth at various venues in the city. ALIVE has been approved by Lawrence Public Schools.
These education activists have developed the skills to teach teachers and professors ABL methods and approaches that can change students’ academic and personal trajectories. They have taught classes at Merrimack College’s graduate program in Community Engagement and for the Bread Loaf School of English’s master’s program, and also have worked with teachers and students in New York City; New Orleans; Tombstone, Arizona; Portau-Prince, Haiti; and Mumbai, India. During the school year and summer, Writing Leaders run student writing and arts programs in Lawrence schools, for community organizations, and at the El Taller bookstore and café in Lawrence.
Thanks to ABL, I now have the resources to help students unleash their natural, God-given talents to learn and create, and feel that what they have to contribute is important to me, the community, and the world. —Tatiana Behrman, Haitian high school teacher
In late April, Phillips Academy ninth-grader Grace Hannam and her new friend shared ideas at an ABL event at the Boys and Girls Club of Lawrence.
Enthusiastic international participants in ABL’s 2014 Writing Workshop for Teachers included, from left, Tatiana Behrmann (Haiti), Jennifer Coreas (El Salvador), Stephanie Haig (Haiti), Lee Krishnan (India), Patricia Kariuki-Echessa (Kenya), and Mohson Tejani (Pakistan).
International Highlight
ABL International Conference IV: Haiti Eleven U.S. teachers and youth from Andover Bread Loaf collaborated with nine ABL teachers in Haiti to offer a professional development conference for teachers and writing workshops for students from August 11 to 16 in Port-au-Prince; 35 Haitian educators and 30 students participated. The conference was led by Haitian school principal Chantal Kénol, an ABL alumnus and Bread Loaf School of English master’s degree candidate.
ABL’s conference goals were to strengthen the Haitian Bread Loaf Teacher Network (BLTN) and international BLTN, increase capacity among participants to serve students, develop replicable models for teaching, share teaching experiences from across the world, fuel the passion for teaching and learning, and celebrate the rich and vibrant culture of Haiti. An excerpt from the daily reports of ABL Associate Director Rich Gorham provides insight into one of many powerful conference experiences: Forty teachers and students sat on a ridge on the side of the mountain in the Wynne Ecological Reserve, overlooking the valley just west of Port-au-Prince, as they participated in art and writing workshops led by Lawrence teacher Marquis Victor and ABL writing leader Nate Baez. Several men [who worked on a farm in the area] sat nearby, observing what we were doing. When asked if they would like to participate, one said yes and jumped right in. Another man in his fifties said in Kreyol, “I would like to, but I do not know how to write.” Frederika Duval, one of our teachers, offered to serve as his translator and scribe. He accepted eagerly and wrote. When he finished, he shared this with the group: “I see trees and I see life. I see trees as life because trees provide water. I am very proud because I have been working here for twenty years.” The Haiti Conference was the culmination of a generous four-year grant from the Abbot Academy Association.
New Partnership
ABL Teams Up with Harlem Lacrosse and Leadership In summer 2014, Andover Bread Loaf began a collaboration with the Harlem Lacrosse and Leadership (HLL) program, a school-based nonprofit led by Phillips Academy alumni Charles (’82) and Christopher (’84) Gildehaus, and Charles’s son, Arthur, a current PA senior.
Guidance is provided on and off the field through coaching, mentoring, academic intervention, and college tours, during which student-athletes learn how to overcome college admission and financial aid obstacles. By broadening players’ experiences and skill sets, HLL also prepares these student-athletes to become effective leaders in the Harlem community.
A Memory
Create
HLL builds leadership skills and social responsibility through lacrosse, providing a safe and structured setting for at-risk youth. Frequent practices and games emphasize the importance of teamwork, aim to build self-confidence, and keep students engaged and active throughout the year.
I’m about seve n years old, wea ring pajamas, creaky woode padding down n steps. Virgin the da wn air mingles orchestral mus with triumphan ic, intensifying, t en gulfing me as living room. Th I drift into the ere I see him, se at ed on his thro backdrop of ro ne against a bust mahogan y walls and a m rug—my father ajestic oriental . His lips curve into a smile an over his glasse d he peers at m s, asks why I’m e up so early. I craw and my cheek l into his lap brushes agains t his unshaven ch his red pen, sig in. He sets dow hs. Papers are n stacked in pile papers with nu s all around hi mbers and lett m , ers and symbo complex and m ls, papers infin ysterious that itely only he can co mprehend. I know I am sa fe. —Rebecca, 9th-
Throughout the 2014–2015 academic year, ABL and HLL will be working on student writing exchanges and other projects focused on HLL youth.
Eight young Harlem Lacrosse and Leadership program participants visited ABL’s Lawrence Student Writing Workshop in July to write and share with their Massachusetts peers. The visit marked the start of ABL’s partnership with HLL.
Is Writing
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Our Generous Donors We gratefully acknowledge our 2013–2014 donors, whose generous contributions once again supported 100 percent of the Andover Bread Loaf operating budget.
Rich Gorham, pictured above, received a surprise call in May from U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan thanking him for his hard work as an educator. Gorham is ABL’s associate director and chair of the English department of the Lawrence Public High School campus.
Foundations and Organizations Betty Beland Greater Lawrence Summer Fund Cornerstone Literacy, Inc. Edward S. & Winifred G. Moseley Foundation Rogers Family Foundation Stavros Niarchos Foundation
ABL Advisory Board
Abbot and Dorothy H. Stevens Foundation
Michael T. Cahill ’84, Chair New York, N.Y.
Individuals
Support
Timothy P.F. Davenport ’80, P’17, ’17 New Canaan, Conn. José A. Dobles ’98 Brooklyn, N.Y. Ricardo Dobles ’85 Holden, Mass. Richard B. Gorham ’86 Andover, Mass. Cynthia L. Greene ’87 Newton, Mass. Donald M. Kendall ’85 Weston, Conn. Tucker Levy ’88 Charlestown, Mass. Abby J. Shuman ’84 Cambridge, Mass. Gabriela Poma Traynor ’88 Cambridge, Mass.
Fred L. Adair Jr. ’69 Alexander D. Anderson ’02 Luis B. Andrade ’86 Amy S. Appleton ’79 Sharyn Bahn Noelle B. Beatty ’50 Amanda C. Belichick ’03 Dorothy W. Bisbee ’82 & Michael B. Jacobs Julie Beth Aronovitz Blencowe ’89 Philip J. Bond, P’10 Phoebe W. Brown ’84
Scobie D. Ward ’84 Hong Kong
Samuel C. Butler Jr. ’72, P’03, ’09
Sturgis P. Woodberry ’84 Darien, Conn.
Michael T. Cahill ’84 & Hilary W. Addington Charles W. Carl Jr. ’48
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Jonathan A. Chacon ’14
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Jonathan S. Campbell
Martin A. Clarke ’83 & Mediha Qureshi Andrea R. Coravos ’06 Laura J. Cox ’88
Timothy P.F. Davenport ’80 & Samantha Haidt Davenport, P’17, ’17 Tenley E. Eakin ’02
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John H. Moulton ’88
Joshua C. Frechette ’90
Tyler C. Newton ’91
Martha Abbruzzese Genieser ’87
Kevin J. O’Brien ’92
Yauvana V. Gold ’97 Cynthia L. Greene ’87 & David L. Jegen Sarah Jane Cohen Grossbard ’84 & Michael L. Grossbard, P’15 Wayne T. Jervis III ’87 Abigail C. Johnson ’71 Kent S. Johnson ’87 & Gillian Thomson Tiffany D. Joseph ’00 Jonathan M. Judson ’02 Mary Claire L. Kennedy, P’01, ’03 Elee E. Kraljii Gardiner ’88 & Robert Kraljii Jonathan P. Kukk ’86 Polly G. LaBarre ’88 Katrina Moiso Lamkin ’83 Marcella Larsen ’84, P’18 Angela S. Lorenz ’83 & Giovanni Figliomeni, P’14 Michael S. MacDougal ’86 Louise Park MacMillan & John H. MacMillan IV, P’04, ’05, ’08 Ashley E. MacMillan ’04 Wanda Y. Mann ’90 Anne Marino Carolina E. Marion ’08
180 Main Street Andover, Mass. 01810-4161 978-884-8452 www.andover.edu/breadloaf
Debra Myers, P’10
Nicholas Olmo ’98 John G. Palfrey Jr. & Catherine A. Carter Louise Parsons Parry ’90 Bruce Reider ’67 & Patricia Simmons Reider, P’10 Nicole E. Roberts ’02 Ronald H. Rooney ’64 Wendy Bolton Rowland ’60 & Daniel B. Rowland ’58 Mary E. Schiavoni ’69 Christopher S.W. Shannon ’07 Dr. & Mrs. Michael T. Shannon, P’07, ’12 Matthew D. Shine ’86 Abby J. Shuman ’84 R. Jordan Smyth Jr. ’84 & Shelagh Meehan Smyt Anthony Thompson ’67 Mark P. Timken ’87 Gabriela Poma Traynor ’88 Victoria Wallace Mr. & Mrs. Ry S. Ward, P’13, ’17 Scobie D. Ward ’84 Nathaniel L. Waters ’95 Juma O. Waugh ’98 James M. Williams ’59 Adam K. Wise ’83 Sturgis P. Woodberry ’84 Torrance B. York ’84 Anonymous (2)
P = Parent of current or former Phillips Academy student Donor list reflects gifts received between July 1, 2013, and June 30, 2014.
If you would like to become an ABL volunteer, please e-mail lbernieri@andover.edu.
Andover Bread Loaf Phillips Academy
Peter B. Morin ’73 & Elizabeth Roscoe Morin ’76, P’07
Patricia H. & George H. Edmonds, P’79, ’82
Patrick J. McCormick ’83
hi
Olivia D. Morgan ’90 & David Plouffe
Support Andover Bread Loaf! Help us make a difference in the lives of ABL students and teachers who participate in ABL activities. Please visit www.andover.edu/ablgiving to make your gift today.