Andover Bread Loaf A Phillips Academy Outreach Program
Fall Newsletter 2018
From the Director
Building a Youth-Driven Social Movement
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.
Andover Bread Loaf is celebrating its 31st year as an advocacy program focused on helping the citizens of Lawrence reclaim their city. Our networked approach develops youth activists, educators, and leaders from the community in a pre-K through college pipeline. Recent funding awarded to Middlebury College’s Bread Loaf Teacher Network (BLTN) by the Ford Foundation for the BLTN Next Generation Leadership Network intensified ABL’s work on that pipeline. Lawrence youth are now working with peers from five other sites around the country—Atlanta, Louisville, Navajo Nation in Arizona, rural South Carolina, and rural Vermont. These social action teams serve as allies and resources and as policymakers and leaders in their schools, community organizations, and local institutions.
Photo by Teddy Anderson
In its first year, which wrapped up this past summer, the BLTN NextGen project far exceeded expectations. Youth worked together at two national conferences (see bit.ly/NextGenWR for video) and at individual site visits to further their respective social justice agendas and build the personal relationships that solidify their network. A powerful lesson learned in ABL and at all BLTN NextGen sites: When young people choose community activism that is important to them—and are supported by a network of adults and peers—they transform themselves as well as their communities. Academic and personal trajectories change, and youth become better prepared to lead happy, healthy, fulfilling lives.
Lou Bernieri
A community-based program, Andover Bread Loaf offers intergenerational workshops whenever possible. Shared stories and experiences make for many warm moments. Photo by Teddy Anderson
ABL Assistant Director Amaryllis Lopez steps to the mic to speak her truth. Amaryllis has helped spread ABL programs from Lawrence to Baton Rouge to El Salvador.
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