Students contribute to new Freedom Writers book
Seven current or former students were recognized for their roles in "Dear Freedom Writer"
Seven Moreno Valley students who contributed to a new book were recognized at an event to mark their achievement and the release of “Dear Freedom Writer: Stories of Hardship and Hope from the Next Generation.”
The May 13 event at Vista del Lago High School featured some of the students, author Erin Gruwell, some of the original “Freedom Writers,” Moreno Valley Unified School District board members and others. Guests received a free copy of the book, whose cover highlights a Freedom Writers event at Landmark Middle School in Moreno Valley.
Five of the district’s student authors attended: Alexis Puente, now a UC San Diego student; Aashish Palikhey, a soon-tobe freshman at Harvard University; Zoe Vollmer, a district graduate; and
A May 13event hosted by the Moreno Valley Unified School District recognized district students who contributed to the new book, “Dear Freedom Writer.” Superintendent Martinrex Kedziora and Moreno Valley school board members Cleveland Johnson and Jesus Holguin are seen with the contributors, author Erin Gruwell, original Freedom Writers and other student authors.
Robert Brown Jr. and Jeremiah Massengill, both Mountain View Middle School students. Not present was Leslie Zaragoza, a Vista del Lago graduate and Harvard student; and Gizella Ochoa, a Bayside
Community Day School graduate.
Gruwell, an English teacher, led her Long Beach high school students more than 20 years ago in writing diaries about their lives and experiences, which led to the Freedom Writers and the nonprofit Freedom Writers Foundation.
During the event, Palikhey called his story “a love letter to his parents working multiple jobs, seven days a week for their kids.”
Also taking part in a panel discussion at the event were the studentauthor teacher sponsors, some of whom were respondents in “Dear Freedom Writer.”
Superintendent Martinrex Kedziora, whose district has used the Freedom Writers Foundation for more than 10 years to improve the climate and culture at schools, has applauded the student and alumni authors.
“We are beyond proud of them for this major milestone,” Kedziora said in a March news release. “By sharing their personal stories, they will inspire others to keep moving forward.”