Andover Bread Loaf A Phillips Academy Outreach Program
Fall Newsletter 2017
30th ANNIVERSARY Founded in 1987, Andover Bread Loaf (ABL) empowers students, teachers, schools, and communities to transform themselves by igniting a passion for learning through written self-expression and the arts. ABL is a partnership between Phillips Academy and the Bread Loaf School of English, Middlebury College’s graduate school.
Express
Five Navajo members of the Next Generation Leadership Network visited Lawrence, Mass., in July and shared poetry, culture, conversation, meals, and friendship, all the while building relationships that are key to long-term partnerships. A reciprocal visit by Lawrence youth to the Navajo Nation is planned for 2018.
From the Director
ABL Youth Fortify ‘Next Generation Leadership Network’
Led by professional actors from Living Literature, teachers in ABL’s summer writing program perform a scene from their theatre workshop.
The Bread Loaf School of English’s Next Generation Leadership Network (NGLN) is part of a Ford Foundation initiative to develop youth leaders from the country’s most under-resourced communities. NGLN’s inaugural summit, held in July at Middlebury College in Vermont, included six youth cohorts that convened from Lawrence, Mass.; Louisville, Ky.; Atlanta, Ga.; rural Vermont; rural South Carolina; and the Navajo Nation. Four ABL writing leaders from Lawrence—Amaryllis Lopez, Monica Sim, James Mora, and Gladdys Jiminian—were among the founding members of NGLN. For four days, the 24 young people shared experiences and perspectives and began building their network. They will continue to work together throughout the next two years, both online and face to face. The ABL community has already been inspired by these youth: five Navajo NGLN members visited Lawrence for three days—a highlight of summer 2017.
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For 30 years, ABL has been developing activist educators and leaders from the community in a pre-K through college pipeline. NGLN—with its strong ABL writing leader participation—affirms and enriches the work of our program. I could not be prouder.
Lou Bernieri P.S. Please take a moment to learn more at breadloafnextgen.middcreate.net.
Inspire
Invitation from Washington, D.C.
Sharing Art and Exercising Rights Eight youth from Elevated Thought (ET) and Lawrence Youth Council (LYC) were guests at the U.S. Department of Education (ED) in Washington, D.C., in May. Along with attending the opening of the students’ art exhibit at the Lyndon B. Johnson Building, the group presented on how student voices can contribute to a community’s renewal—and learned from ED leaders how best to exercise their newly created Students’ Bill of Rights, which follows: 1. Students’ Needs Come First—Youth voices are heard and considered in all school decisions that affect them; youth leadership teams should be created at each public middle and high school. 2. Students Are Liberated Through Their Creations—Schools use a curriculum that promotes critical thinking, creativity, imagination, and pride in one’s cultural heritage.
Three rules govern those who step up to an ABL open mic:
1. Speak your truth. 2. Do it in any language. 3. Be kind.
3. Students’ Vision Is Developed With and Through Their Communities—School leaders provide accountability, equity, and transparency to all members of the community, including youth, parents, and community organizers. Through increased mentorships and place-based, democratic forms of learning, students have more opportunities to find out what they like and what they’re good at during the school day. 4. Students’ Healthy Growth Is Ensured—Schools provide nutritional menu options, healthy eating initiatives, and increased resources and information to foster healthy student growth on all levels—physical, mental, and spiritual. ET and LYC youth have since shared these rights throughout the city of Lawrence, creating awareness and gathering feedback for their ongoing “What Is Education?” campaign (vimeo.com/215677705). ABL has been a partner in the What Is Education? campaign since its inception. ET and LYC are members of a collective of 16 community organizations and cultural institutions in Lawrence that ABL organizes as an alternative educational system in the city.
Conference in El Salvador
Poetry as a Universal Language Bridgewater State University sophomore Amaryllis Lopez had a busy summer. In early August, she spent a week in El Salvador for the ABL-Contextos Peace Literacy Network Conference, where she helped conduct writing workshops for more than 200 students and 100 teachers. “I learned to resist the urge to romanticize poverty, to try to see the reality of El Salvador and its people and not what I want it to be,” says Lopez. “How do I tell people that I have changed because of how challenging this trip was for my soul? “If there is one thing that I can take away from my Salvadoran experience it’s that poetry is a universal language—the backbone of social justice, peace, and love. It is the reason why I felt at home 3,700 miles away, why I was able to meet new friends and write about our lives together. Poetry is proof that my experience is valid and worth reading about. It is why that student in Apopa or Perquín’s story is valid and worth reading and sharing. It is why I want to go back. Why I need to go back. And why I will be back.” Amaryllis first became involved with ABL as a 10-year-old in the program’s Student Writers Workshop and then became a writing leader. She is now assistant director of ABL and a core member of the Next Generation Leadership Network (see director’s letter). 2
The ABL-Contextos Peace Literacy Network Conference brought together teachers from the United States, El Salvador, and Guatemala for a week of inspiring workshops. Pictured above is the Peace Literacy team at the Amún Shéa School in Perquin, a small town in the mountains of El Salvador. Amaryllis Lopez , assistant director of ABL, is in the front row, third from the right.
Rising Loaves
Healthier Choices, Healthier Lives ABL’s Rising Loaves is a three-week summer program for middle schoolers that is hosted and funded by the Lawrence History Center (LHC). In summer 2017, students considered how—as individuals and as a community—we can make better decisions about meals and snacks. They created healthy foods with local chefs and met with art therapists and poets to consider how art, meditation, and poetry can help us rethink what we eat. The world around them and the history of their city, they discovered, offer many clues and possibilities for healthier living. The work they started over the summer is continuing at a weekly workshop hosted by El Taller Café & Bookstore. Students will also participate in an exchange with students in Mumbai, India, write and create books for their community, and present their ideas at LHC’s 2018 symposium, “The History and Future of Public Health.” —Mary Guerrero, Director, Rising Loaves
Slice of Bread Loaf
Feeding Imaginations On a Monday morning in July, 50 people gathered in the Homework Room at the Boys and Girls Club of Lawrence (BGCL). The group included about 35 students entering grades two through five, 12 high school and collegeaged writing leaders, and three adults. Some were friends or acquaintances, others were strangers. All were gathered to take part in year seven of ABL’s Slice program. During the next 10 days, students and writing leaders engaged in workshops and field trips centered around the theme “Inside Out: What Are You All About?!” Shared experiences, interactions, revelations, and fun nurtured and empowered each child’s inner writer, performer, musician, and artist. The room known for school-year homework struggles was alive with creative energy, passion, curiosity, and love, and many friendships were made. Good news! The BGCL now offers a weekly Slice of Bread Loaf workshop that will continue throughout the school year. Many youth are participating—and many are already counting down the months to summer 2018 and year eight of Slice. —Kristine Ennis, Director, Slice of Bread Loaf
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You Are a Poet
if words take sh ape, twist and change in your when you spea brain k, cane sugar an d you are a poet alcohol drip fro m your tongue if thoughts an and if you go do d rhymes run ab wn to that islan out d in your mind an in the face of th d they don’t le e sun, t you sleep at ni yo u’ ll know you com ght e from a long you are a poet line of poets w ith brown skin like if the things yo yours u still have to sa y find their way just cause thei up your throat r poetry is to th and e into existence beat of a threestep don’t mea n you are a poet bachata you ain’t gotta ai n’ t just as beautif know iambic ul as that pentameter or Shakespeare po no Oxford com em ma there’s poetry your English te in the Spanish acher’s in love with spoken by your so even if you stutter when yo mama u there’s poetry sp eak in the sound of your town or if your senten ces misplace yo ur in a car horn an intentions and d a coñaso! and in a rap so they leave you ng playing do breathless wn the street you are a poet there’s poetry in that heat —James, 11th grade Lawrence, Mas s.
Our Generous Donors We gratefully acknowledge our 2016–2017 donors, whose generous contributions make this program possible.
Foundations & Organizations Brandon Mercade attended the 2017 ABL Writing Workshop for Teachers. He learned about ABL six years ago as a high school student in a Students At the Center class. United Teachers of New Orleans and SAC are ABL’s lead partners in New Orleans.
ABL Advisory Board
Individuals
Suppor t
Michael T. Cahill ’84, Chair New York, N.Y. Susanna Rhodes Beckwith ’88, P’18 Providence, R.I. Sanjiv S. Desai ’89 Coconut Grove, Fla. José A. Dobles ’98 Brooklyn, N.Y. Ricardo Dobles ’85 Holden, Mass. Elee E. Kraljii Gardiner ’88 Vancouver, B.C., Canada Cynthia L. Greene ’87 Newton, Mass. Tucker Levy ’88 Charlestown, Mass. Gabriela Poma ’88 Cambridge, Mass. Gregory D. Shufro ’87 New York, N.Y. Scobie D. Ward ’84 Hong Kong Timothy I. Watt ’89 West Hartford, Conn. Sturgis P. Woodberry ’84 Darien, Conn.
Abbot & Dorothy H. Stevens Foundation Betty Beland Greater Lawrence Summer Fund Communities Together, Inc. Connemara Fund Edward S. & Winifred G. Moseley Foundation Merrimack Valley People for Peace Rogers Family Foundation
Julia A. Alvarez ’67 & William Eichner Luis B. Andrade ’86 & Jennifer Reid Sharyn Bahn Kristin Bair O’Keeffe Ross G. Baker Jr. ’72 & Lisa Jones Noelle B. Beatty ’50 & George W. Beatty ’50 Susanna Rhodes Beckwith ’88 & Dr. Curt Beckwith, P’18 James R. Bird Jr. ’67, PhD & Anita Bird Philip J. Bond, P’10 Tyler P. Bond ’10 Andrew W. Bowman ’87 & Rachel Lomas Phoebe W. Brown ’84 & Chris Carr Samuel C. Butler Jr. ’72, P’03, ’09 & Susan Jett Michael T. Cahill ’84 & Hilary Addington Maria Caico, P’19 Sharon J. Caico, GP’19 Berit K. Campion ’92 & Dmytro Mamedov Ambassador Arnold A. Chacon & Alida A. Chacon, P’05, ’14 Jonathan A. Chacon ’14 Martin A. Clarke ’83 & Mediha Qureshi Kevin A. Connolly ’74 & Diane Connolly Thomas Constable Laura J. Cox ’88 & Dan Rogoff John F. Cusack Jr. & Dolores Cusack, P’18 Sanjiv S. Desai ’89 & Wendy Levitz Katherine S. Dow ’55 & James Dow Jr., P’88 Catherine Doykos ’80 Ming Du & Mei Jiang, P’19
Tenley E. Eakin ’02 Patricia H. Edmonds & George H. Edmonds, P’79, ’82 Mara Meyer Epstein ’01 & Jonathan Epstein Patrick J. Farrell & Karen Farrell Kinnon M. Foley ’04 & Oliver Foley Joshua C. Frechette ’90 & Trixie Sabundayo Elee E. Kraljii Gardiner ’88 & Robert Kraljii Lt. Cmdr. Luis A. Gonzalez Jr. ’97 & Lauren Gonzalez Richard B. Gorham ’86 Dixie Goswami Cynthia L. Greene ’87 & David Jegen Henry H. Hammond ’54 Anja-Britt Hanson ’84 & Derek Pierce Hannah Pfeifle Harlow ’96 & Jason Harlow Steven A. Harrington ’81 & Shirl Harrington Uzoma K. Iheagwara ’04 Wayne T. Jervis III ’87 & Heather Jervis Abigail C. Johnson ’71 Kent S. Johnson ’87 & Gillian Thomson Kirsten J. Johnson & Amy L. Blackburn, PsyD, P’18 Tiffany D. Joseph ’00, PhD Jonathan M. Judson ’02 SukHee C. Kim ’98 Michael J. Koehler ’94 & Amy Koehler Polly G. LaBarre ’88 Samuel Kit Bunn Lai ’00, PhD & Sachiko Ozawa ’99 Marcella Larsen ’84 & Chip Chilson, P’18 Tucker Levy ’88 & Victoria Levy Thomas P. Lockerby & Kathleen McCrickerd Angela S. Lorenz ’83 & Giovanni Figliomeni, P’14 Michael S. MacDougal ’86 & Janice MacDougal Anne Marino Carolina E. Marion ’08 Patrick J. McCormick ’83 & Babette Fahey Olivia D. Morgan-Plouffe ’90 & David Plouffe
Michael W. Morris Jr. ’86 & Kristen Morris, P’21 John H. Moulton ’88 & Marion F. Moulton Kevin L. Murphy ’80 & Carolyn Murphy Kevin J. O’Brien ’92 Laurie A. Ortstein Caroline Goodson Parker ’88 Beth Parsons Gabriela Poma ’88 Miriam Ganem Reeder ’57, P’85, ‘88 James W. Reidy ’86 & Shantelle Reidy Nicole E. Roberts ’02 Christopher P. Rokous ’80 & Judith Rokous Wendy Bolton Rowland ’60 & Daniel B. Rowland ’58 Michael T. Shannon, DMD & Carolyn O. Shannon, P’07, ’12 Matthew D. Shine ’86 & Lily E. Shine Gregory D. Shufro ’87 & Jennifer Saken Abby J. Shuman ’84, PsyD & Dean Eaton R. Jordan Smyth Jr. ’84 & Shelagh Smyth Nicolas I. Swenson ’15 Beth Talbott Sylvia L. Thayer ’54 & Rev. J. Philip Zaeder, P’79, ’83, GP’17, ’18 Mark P. Timken ’87 & Heather Timken Corbin R. Tognoni ’08 Lisa M. Torrisi Dr. Ernesto Valdesolo & Cristina G. Valdesolo, P’96, ’99 Heidi L. Van Horn ’86 Suzanne E. Sherrill Waggoner ’80 & Gary Waggoner Scobie D. Ward ’84 Nathaniel L. Waters ’95 Juma O. Waugh ’98 Allen C. West ’48 Dr. Michael D. West ’55 & Dr. Deborah Green West ’55 Brian Wiley ’82 & Sarah Wilson Wiley Sandra Waugh Winans ’69 & Walter Winans Jr. Sturgis P. Woodberry ’84 & Carolyn Woodberry Torrance B. York ’84 & Gregory Walters
Donor list reflects gifts received between July 1, 2016, and June 30, 2017. P = Parent of current or former Phillips Academy student GP = Grandparent of current or former Phillips Academy student
Andover Bread Loaf
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.
Phillips Academy 180 Main Street Andover, Mass. 01810-4161 978-884-8452 www.andover.edu/breadloaf
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