(www.ny.aspira.org)
Who would have guessed that my first day as an Aspira college and career advisor in one of New York City’s largest public schools would be spent writing poems and short-stories with a group of students? Who would have guessed that -- despite the 6 by 5 foot office space that I was allotted -- the group and variety of written languages used would quickly double in number? Though I busily prepared information on career choices, college options, SAT scores, financial aid, and scholarships in the month between my hire and starting date, I was, to say the very least, happily caught off guard by my literary introduction to Adlai Stevenson High School in the Bronx.
As I continued to work closely with the mentioned group of writers and attended several open mic jam sessions in the school courtyard, I learned that many of the students that frequented my office hours often carried around in their backpacks an endless supply of notebooks and three-ring binders that were overflowing with personal writing. All of the young writers, it seemed, were looking for new ways to share their ideas, experiences, and creative story-telling techniques with peers, teachers, and even me -- a complete stranger who had just arrived on the scene. I began collecting the student’s work with the idea of publishing it on the Aspira of New York website and creating an online newsletter that would link past and present Aspirantes (those involved in the many educational and leadership programs that Aspira organizes). When I left Aspira to teach in the Languages, Literatures, and Cultures Department at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, however, the project was forced to take a momentary hold, but I am glad to announce that it is back on track, open to even more students than before, and run through this very site (www.lenguamente.com).
As many of you are already aware, the Lenguamente website includes an online forum; an interactive feature which, among other things, will allow students to post their own essays, poems, short-stories, plays, and favorite quotes, read the work of others, and also acquire relevant information with regards to writing, the arts, and the college application process (1). I will be using the same forum to teach the English 112: College Writing course at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst (UMass) and hope to get students from all over the English, Portuguese, and Spanish-speaking world to also post their work on the website. The first student to have published a poem on the forum did so in Portuguese, and is from a community-based education program (CRIA) for youth in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil. I do anticipate, however, that a larger number of participants will be from public schools in the northeastern U.S. as most of my outreach has been directed to groups connected to the mentioned region.
The general concept of the project is quite simple: students post their writing (in any language or combination of languages), read and make comments on the work of others, follow the assignments of a university-level course, and gain access to a web (figuratively and literally) of information that will help them through the college/career selection and preparation process. By involving themselves in this type of online writing community, the students will become familiar with how a university-level course is run, and they will most definitely – by reading, posting, and sharing their comments on the website – develop ties with students from UMass and the 5-College Consortium which is comprised of leading academic institutions such as Amherst College, Smith College, Mount Holyoke College, and Hampshire College.
It is my hope that this link between aspiring writers at the secondary and university level will develop and be celebrated in the form of a 5-college visit and a Writer’s Niche Jam Session (to be aired on the local radio stations, 103.3 and 91.1). Planned properly, the college visit will be free for all students and will include travel, overnight lodging, all meals, an open invitation to sit in on my writing course (in addition to other courses), and participation in tours run by the admissions programs of each university/college in the area.
If we are able to get enough students to participate, the Writer's Niche Project has the potential to not only encourage the development of much-needed writing skills, get the students voices out to the public, prepare them for what university-life will be like, and increase awareness of post-High School options, it can also lead to new avenues to support and inspire their creativity.
Those interested can send me an email or post a comment on the forum
I look forward to reading your ideas and suggestions!
Check out the project summary and flyer for students!
Footnote: (1) As this project is dependent on the presence of computers, I have sought out several possible Macintosh and PC donors and would be able to deliver them directly to the schools/Aspira programs.
(Jacob Dyer-Spiegel © 2006. All Rights Reserved.)