Ms. Drago's third period English class has been reading The Freedom Writer's Diary this semester. After watching the movie "Freedom Writers", the students in Ms. Drago's English class were really excited to read the book, so they asked Mr. Levy if he would purchase a class set. He said yes!

Erin Gruwell, a first-year teacher at Wilson High School in Long Beach, confronted a class of "unteachable, at-risk" students on her first day of teaching. Over the next few years, she would inspire her students by using books (diaries, actually) to teach them about intolerance and injustice. Seeing the parallels in their own lives, her students put their stories down on paper and wrote a book that chronicled their journey from hopelessness to hope.

As we read this book, students are required to respond to each diary entry in writing- they need to put down some kind of a question, insight, or comment about what they have read or how it made them feel. At the same time, students are also required to keep their own personal journals, or diaries, and submit them on a weekly basis.

So far, we are loving this book! We're learning a lot and we recommend it to everyone! Thank you, Mr. Levy, for being willing to purchase these books for our class.