|
........THE
FAMILIAR Vol 1, Iss 2..............................................................................................................................
|
|
BEHIND
THE SCENES OF AN EMOTION LITERACY E-ZINE MISSION
STATEMENT THE FAMILIAR VOL. 1 ISS. 2. Missed an issue of the familiar? Click here to browse through our entire back-issue archive! |
garfield high students The following article was written for a neighborhood newspaper and due to our inability to meet the paper’s requirement that at least a couple of the students profiled in the article reside in the designated neighborhoods, the article was not printed. Here, in our virtual neighborhood, residential locales are moot. Alex, a sophomore at Garfield High School, is tired of the media only focusing on the negative aspects of teenagers and wants to voice her feelings about this and other issues. As a contributing writer at a new on-line publication, the familiar, the 15-year-old is part of a group of Garfield sophomore and freshman students who are contributing to a forum with this unique Internet publication for teenagers and their community. The concept for the publication was developed in Christina Roux’s language arts class last semester, said Pamela Sackett, founding editor. Sackett, a teaching artist and pioneer of Garfield’s emotion literacy program said: the familiar is an arts venue, an emotion literacy learning environment and publishing opportunity for any and everybody and most particularly parents, teachers and teens." For six years, she has been teaching students at Garfield about emotion literacy and Christina Roux has been incorporating Sackett’s ideas in her language arts curriculum. "We cycle through the full spectrum of feelings several times a day whether we realize it or not," Pamela said. "Being aware of that cycle of feelings gives us the option to chose ways to express any part of it at any given time. Violence grows out of a lack awareness of feelings and a sort of internal isolation." She added: "For those who are concerned about violence in the schools, I offer this venue for solace and a kind of guidance born of insight and inspiration." Much of the writing that students contribute to the publication is done at home or other time away from class. It is during class sessions that students discuss each others’ writing. "I think this project will benefit the community because everyone can see our writings and learn about us [teenagers] and the issues that we feel strongly about," said Alex. "I like that I get other students’ opinions about my writing." Sophomore Bryce, another contributing writer, said: "I believe with every ounce of my soul, that this project, the familiar, is of great importance to myself and well being. I intend to return to this group in order to create and maintain pride in myself and writing for many years to come." Not all of the student contributors write for the publication, as in the case of Krista, 16, who designed the web-site and said she was, initially, interested in the job experience. She said the three week time frame she was given to complete the web site taught her how to better manage her time and meet the deadlines. Moreover, she adds, she is a better person as a result of her participation with the familiar. "I notice that the student writers each came out of this project more aware of their surroundings and other people’s emotions," said Krista. "I’ve heard them all talk about how they analyze things more closely now than they did before their involvement in the project." Adding, "Hopefully, this project will prove to the public that teens aren’t as incapable as some people think we are." Many students said that they believe that their participation in the project is making a difference in their community. Click "Next Piece" to read Ester’s Rodriguez’s unedited interview with the familiar’s editor from which comments were excerpted for the above article.
<<BACK TO COLUMN || MAIN MENU || NEXT PIECE>> |
|
.
|
|
The
Familiar encourages you to explore your own use of language as a key |