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Gruwell receives
award for dedication
By Maya Yamane
On-line Forty-Niner
The California
Commission on Teacher Credentialing recently awarded Cal State
Long Beach professor Erin Gruwell and four other
teachers for their dedication to students.
Gruewell was one
of the recipients of the Teacher of the Year Award for her
contributions and commitment to kids, said Marilyn Errett,
consultant at the
commission.
While an English
teacher at Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach, Gruwell
inspired a group of inner-city youth to write essays
which were published
in a book titled "The Freedom Writers Diary," Errett said.
The group chose
to call themselves the Freedom Writers in honor of the Freedom
Riders who worked to desegregate the interstate
bus and train system in the
South during the 1960s.
The group promoted
the book on a national tour and in Europe last summer.
They also appeared
on television shows including "The Oprah Winfrey Show," "Prime
Time Live," and "The Rosie O'Donnell Show,"
according to information
provided by the university.
"All the kids went
to college...that's incredible," Errett said.
One of the Freedom
Writers died of cystic fibrosis after completing a year of
college, according to the university.
"At the event there
were many outstanding men and women who have made significant
contributions to the field of education, so I was
truly honored to be in the company of such great teachers
and administrators," Gruwell said.
Gruwell has received
other awards including the Harvard/Radcliff Association Educator
of the Year Award and Teacher of the Year
awards from the California Credential Counselors and Analysts,
the California Junior Chamber of Commerce, the Long Beach
Unifed
School Distrit and the district's PTA, according to the unversity.
State Secretary
of Education Kerry Mazzoni and Senator Jack Scott presented
the awards at a comission meeting in Sacramento, Erret
said.
The other recipients
were M. Valerie Beidelman of Burbank High School in Burbank,
Philip M. Chase of Marshall High School in Los
Angeles, Judi Doom of Monte Vista Elementary School in La
Crescenta and Cindy Douglas of Santana High School in the
Grossmont
High School District, Errett said.
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