Four Five Weeks Every Summer, I Have the Best Job in the University. @WritingProject @cwpfairfield. Stellar Teachers. Amazing Kids. Great Inspiration. So Much Writing! All LOVE to @JasonReynolds83

This year in Ubuntu Academy, we have several more beginning English-language learners, meaning these are teens that have only been in the country a few months and who have a limited vocabulary in English. They are wonderful kids, but struggle arrives from being able to access knowledge in another language, and sharing what they know with others. Most of these kids already speak 3 to 4 languages, but English is new on their radar. We knew this coming into the summer's work with 36 young people and for that reason I bought copies of Jason Reynold's Ain't Burned All the Bright. I wanted these high schoolers to feel good about spending two weeks on a college campus working through a novel, one that is written in poetic form and visually stunning (Go, Jason Griffin, Go!). They've composed a perfect text for vocabulary enhancement, dialogue, respect for lived experiences of young people, and total joy from the every day. 

Each and every summer we get to work with superheroes (and this year is the 9th one...it's hard to believe we've achieved almost a decade of this summer literacy work).

Yesterday, we worked with dialogue to enhance storytelling, did a scavenger hunt across campus, laughed at ourselves in numerous ways, and shared videos/photos on the Apple TVs. William said, "We should monitor attendance to assess how we're doing," and the truth is, word is spreading and kids not on our rosters are coming, too. Word of mouth in the best testimony. 

This year, Ubuntu Academy has many more Spanish speakers and I was fortunate to hire Brenda Lineras, a graduate of Fairfield University, to bring her language expertise. She, like Jalen Johnson, a youth literacy worker heading to Princeton, were the perfect hires. They are phenomenal with the young people we work with. They jump in. They help. They build relationships. They give so much of themselves.

I also purchased (Me)Moth for the advanced readers and I'm super excited to give these books to them for summer reads. I tell you what, these writers are geniuses, and I can't thank them enough for telling complex stories in poetic/artistic ways. It is the ideal way to introduce English to the young people we serve (shout out to Jerry Craft, too - graphic novels are superb and Kwame Alexander the perfect way to write dialogue poems  - ha! we also used his chicken piece from Bon Appetit! in College Essay). Bring me poetry. Bring me visuals. Bring me the writers who get youth.

Today is day #4. I wake up each and every day excited to work with these amazing kids and teachers. I simply wish all people could experience such joy. I wish this was every day of the year, too. In the summer, it is total bliss.