Grade 10 students have begun the year with an introductory unit on the film, Freedom Writers. It is based on the book, ‘The Freedom Writers Diary’ which was written by English teacher, Erin Gruwell and her students from Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach, California. They documented their lives during the early 1990s, discussing their daily struggles, particularly racially fuelled gang violence, which erupted after the brutal beating of African-American, Rodney King by
Los Angeles police officers.

Grade 10 English Teachers: Lisa Mitchell,
Catherine Attenborrow and I have all noted a high level of student engagement in this unit. Students have completed a variety of short writing tasks and are about to begin their major assessment, which is to write their own diary entry/ies in a similar format to the Freedom Writers. It is a fantastic way for us to get to know our students personally.