ERIN

GRUWELL Born: August 15, 1969

INTRODUCTION
Erin Gruwell is a teacher in the United States whose teaching method led to
publication of The Freedom Writers Diary (1999), which inspired the movie
Freedom Writers (2007). She is well known for her unique teaching
methods. She began wanting to become a lawyer, then she realized that
changing the world starts in the classroom first and began teaching at
Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach, California in 1994.

FREEDOM WRITERS DIARY

Gruwell alongside her students created a book called The Freedom Writers
Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the
World Around Them, in 1999. This was filled with journal entries written by her
students as well as entries by Gruwell. The book consists of entries in which the
students discussed their troubled pasts, present, and futures.

FREEDOM WRITERS FOUNDATION

Erin Gruwell and benefactor, John Tu, also founded the non-profit organization
called the Freedom Writers Foundation in 1997. It's purpose is to, "inspire young,
underprivileged students to pick up pens instead of guns." This foundation's goals
are to, "Create opportunities for students to reach their full academic potential
and aspire to higher education. Publicly and systematically promote an
educational philosophy that values, upholds, and honors diversity. Inspire
students to realize their roles as vital members of their communities."

TEACH WITH YOUR HEART

Gruwell also wrote and published, Teach with Your Heart: Lessons I
Learned from the Freedom Writers in 2007. She published this book
around the same time that that the movie Freedom Writers was
released. She wrote about all that she learned from teaching at
Woodrow Wilson High School. She discussed her trials and tribulation
with working with these students but also her many successes and
accomplishments.

TED TALK: BECOMING A CATALYST FOR

CHANGE
Erin Gruwell also has spoken at TEDxChapmanU discussing her time in teaching.
She also talks about her upbringing and her parents who inspired her to strive for
change and bettering the world and the people around her. She talked to
audience of many different people about many different things. She discusses
the first time her students ever heard about the Holocaust and how much it
surprised her that high school students had yet to hear about the atrocities of the
second world war. She then goes on to discuss her process of changing these
kids minds and expanding their knowledge of the world around them.

THE FAMILY
Erin Gruwell has not yet stopped teaching, now he goes
across the country and even has gone worldwide
teaching teachers about her unique teaching style and
how to implement that same style into their classrooms.
She calls them "The Family".

MY HERO EVENT
The My Hero project honored Erin Gruwell at an event held by
Mohamed Sidibay, former child solider from Sierra Leone,
called International Day of Peace Celebration on September
of 2014. Sidibay honored Gruwell, calling her a personal hero
of his.

CONCLUSION
Erin Gruwell was a trailblazer in teaching, shaking up the
norms of teaching that forever changed the lives of not
just her students and herself but other teachers as well.
She was a hero to many children and even today
continues to change lives and put more students though
college and encouraging teachers to change things up in
the classroom to better the lives of their students.
SOUCRES
UNKNOWN. "ERIN GRUWELL." WIKIPEDIA, WIKIMEDIA FOUNDATION, 2 FEB. 2023, UNKNOWN. “ERIN GRUWELL.” WIKIPEDIA, WIKIMEDIA
FOUNDATION, 2 FEB. 2023, HTTPS://EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG/WIKI/ERIN_GRUWELL.
UNKNOWN. "THE FREEDOM WRITERS: SOME CONSIDERED HER CLASS A LOST CAUSE, BUT IN HER FIRST YEAR OF TEACHING, ERIN
GRUWELL TRANSFORMED HER STUDENTS INTO A COMMUNITY OF WRITERS." INSTRUCTOR- FIND ARTICLES, 1 NOV. 2004.
HTTPS://WEB.ARCHIVE.ORG/WEB/20070523114859/HTTP://FINDARTICLES.COM/P/ARTICLES/MI_M0STR/IS_4_114/AI_N9483842
UNKNOWN. "ERIN GRUWELL BOOKS: LIST OF BOOKS BY AUTHOR ERIN GRUWELL" THRIFT BOOKS. DATE UNKNOWN.
HTTPS://WWW.THRIFTBOOKS.COM/A/ERIN-GRUWELL/200058/