BAWP Hosts Conference on
Writing and African American Youth

Local K-12 students read their work to a full house at the Beyond Words conference

On February 5, 2005 the Bay Area Writing Project (BAWP) held a free conference at UC Berkeley on the topic of “Beyond Words: An Inquiry into African American Youth and the Teaching of Writing.” The well-attended conference took as its call a quote from Oakland teacher Marsha Rhynes: “We need to come together to listen to our students, to their parents, to one another, and to those who have produced evidence of what works.”

The one-day conference featured Bay Area students reading their writing, as well as local teachers bringing examples of strategies that have succeeded for them in the classroom. The conference ended with a presentation by Tommie Lindsey, MacArthur Award winner and head coach of the Speech and Debate team at James Logan High School in Oakland. His students also participated.

Comments on the final session indicated that the participants went away energized. “We teachers need someone to motivate us as well.” “Having the students conclude with works where their love and pride really showed was inspirational.” “It’s hard to find the words—I can only thank Mr. Lindsey and his students for showing what our kids can achieve.”

 

return to BEL Spring 2005 contents

return to GSE publications