Erin Gruwell is a teacher who founded an organization called Freedom Writers. Her story is so compelling that M-TV made a movie about her. Check it out here.
Fresh out of college in the mid-1990s, Erin taught in a Long Beach, Calif., high school. Her rough and tumble students were described as the toughest cases. These were 150 kids who weren't supposed to make it. After much trial and error, she connected with the students. Many of them began to take school seriously for the first time in their lives. Over the course of four years of study, many of the students found new hope for their lives. Ultimately, Gruwell and the students published a book made up of entries from their journals. Erin presented her story at a business meeting I attended in Nebraska a few days ago. Her presentation was so compelling I stuck around to meet her afterward.
Teaching professionals might argue over Gruwell's methods, and certainly there has been plenty of blog-chatter about the accuracy of the movie, but I am writing about her here because Gruwell did what she had to in order to do her job. The way she told it, she wanted each of her students to read books written by authors a lot like them. Many of the students were living in what felt like a war zone, a place where drive-by shootings were all too common. So Gruwell wanted the students to know about other teens, like Anne Frank, who lived in traditional wars.
Gruwell said when she went to the administration of the school to buy the books, she was told the students would never read them. She was denied the funds to purchase the books. That's where Gruwell took things into her own hands. She went to a local book store and bought 150 copies of six books. She said she had to max out her credit card and dip into her Christmas savings in order to make the purchase. As she looks back, she said the books turned out to be an important starting point for many of the students.
I like the story because Gruwell poured herself into her work. She didn't let the establishment prevent her from being the teacher she knew she could be.
Many people want things in order to do their work, but they would never pay for any of those things with their own money. Would you? Gruwell wasn't going to let the money for books be the barrier that prevented her from reaching those students.
Bringing God to work means loving those around you. It means not giving up on those around you, even if others have. It means giving your best to those around you. It seems to me that Gruwell did that. I am sure many teachers do something similar every day. It is a great example of the GEO Principle in action.
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