Monday, April 27, was a heroic day in Mariam Al-Shawaf's English classes at the Maya Angelou Public Charter School. That day, Capitol Letters volunteer Sufiya A-R led five volunteer assistants in a writing workshop for Ms. Al-Shawaf's classes on the theme "Heroes and Sheroes."Each class began with Sufiya and the other volunteers reading essays they had written about the heroes in their lives. Then Sufiya had the students take turns reading an article about Richard Norman, a local artist who is creating a life-size sculpture of Harriet Tubman for the newly-designated Harriet Tubman National Park in Buckstown, Maryland. Sufiya then led the students in a discussion of what made Ms. Tubman and Mr. Norman heroes, and who Mr. Norman's heroes are and why.
After going over a list of adjectives the students might want to use in their essays, it was time to get to work. The students broke into small groups and, with the help of the teaching assistants, crafted their own essays about their heroes. They wrote about their mothers and fathers, aunts and uncles, and brothers and sisters. Their essays told compelling stories about people who have protected them, lifted them up, and inspired them to do great things.
The next day volunteers Steve S and Kira W recorded the students reading their work. The recordings will be presented at the fundraiser for the Maya Angelou School, to be held Thursday, April 30, at D.C.'s historic Lincoln Theater. With the help of Ms. Al-Shawaf's students, the fundraiser -- which will be attended by Ms. Angelou, Toni Morrison, and Quincy Jones, among others -- will celebrate heroes of every generation.
-Sean C