Serving Larchmont Village, Hancock Park, and the Greater Wilshire neighborhoods of Los Angeles since 2011.

Freedom Writers Educator Erin Gruwell to Speak Monday at Ebell

Educator Erin Gruwell will speak at the Ebell on Monday, August 10, at noon, via Zoom.

Erin Gruwell, the inspirational educator noted for her groundbreaking work with the Long Beach High School Students who inspired the movie “Freedom Writers,” will speak to the Ebell on Monday, August 10, at noon

Gruwell, who was inspired by the original “Freedom Riders,” the civil rights activists who rode interstate buses into the segregated South in the 1960s, continues her work teaching teachers strategies to connect with students through the Freedom Writers Institute. Recently, she’s been posting free curriculum online available to teaches and students during the pandemic.

“Erin’s teaching method on how to reach and engage vulnerable students is more relevant today than it has ever been,” said Ginger Barnard, Past President of the Ebell of Los Angeles, who is co-chairing Monday’s online event.  “The social justice movement and Black Lives Matter have brought focus to the systemic inequities of our educational system.  It will be fascinating to learn from Gruwell, who continues the movement she started 20 years ago to empower young people who have been written off as unteachable.”

“Gruwell radically changed her curriculum for the English class of students who were considered unteachable, and embodies the Ebell motto, “I will find a way or make one,” explained Barnard.

“Not only did she find a way change to engage and inspire her students, but she changed the lives of her students and the teaching profession,” added Barnard. “The Ebell is honored to welcome Gruwell, who along with her students created the book, “Freedom Writers Diary,” a New York Times Best Seller that inspired the 2007 film, Freedom Writers, starring Hilary Swank as Erin.”

Gruwell is speaking to the Ebell just as a new documentary about her work has been released on PBS. The documentary features her now-grown students, with families of their own, who help Gruwell tell the story of how they picked up pens instead of guns. The documentary recently won a Los Angeles-area Emmy last month.

Gruwell will speak on Monday, August 10, 2020 at 12:00 noon. The event is free and open to all. Donations are greatly appreciated since the Ebell has been shuttered since March due to the pandemic, and income from rentals, an essential source of funding for the historic club, has been significantly reduced.

Erin Gruwell will speak to the Ebell of Los Angeles on Monday, August 10 at noon. Click here to reserve, the event is free. A zoom link will be sent an hour before the event.
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Patricia Lombard
Patricia Lombard
Patricia Lombard is the publisher of the Larchmont Buzz. Patty lives with her family in Fremont Place. She has been active in neighborhood issues since moving here in 1989. Her pictorial history, "Larchmont" for Arcadia Press is available at Chevalier's Books.

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