Paul Smith, Jodi Gehr and their students sent letters to businesses, held fund raisers and sold T-shirts. In the end, they raised $7,050.
KEVIN ABOUREZK / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Sunday, February 10, 2008 6:00 pm
At first, some at Lincoln Southeast High School were skeptical.
Do you really think you can raise $6,000 to bring two of the original Freedom Writers to speak here?
Undeterred, Paul Smith, Jodi Gehr and their students sent letters to businesses, held fund raisers and sold T-shirts.
In the end, they raised $7,050.
Smith said the school’s success at raising money proves people will line up behind a good cause.
“If there’s something positive, people will support it in this community,” he said. “It just was amazing to me.”
So, come Feb. 20, not two but three Freedom Writers will visit Lincoln Southeast to share their story of hope and determination against all odds.
It’s a story Smith’s students know well.
This school year, Smith has been using a teaching approach inspired by the story of a California teacher who motivated her students in 1994 by having them write journals about themselves.
Erin Gruwell got her students to rethink their rigid beliefs, which led to publication of “The Freedom Writers Diary,” a collection of the students’ journals.
The book was the basis for the 2007 movie “Freedom Writers,” starring Hilary Swank as Gruwell.
A big part of Smith’s class involves reading and discussing the book. Students also keep journals.
Smith said he has worked to create an environment that allows his students to feel comfortable sharing anything with each other.
And his students say he has succeeded in that effort.
“I’ve never had a class like that where I could share my feelings in class and not regret it one bit,” said Nic Torraco, 15.
Adam Cheloha, 15, said the class has brought students who might otherwise never be friends closer together.
“I really hope this Freedom Writers movement can move to other schools,” he said.
At Southeast High, that movement is well under way.
When Smith’s students decided to raise money to bring Freedom Writers to the school, they quickly began receiving help from other classes and teachers.
Last September, Jodi Gehr, the school’s DECA adviser, decided to get her students involved in raising money and spreading the Freedom Writers’ message.
The DECA students quickly came up with a theme for the campaign: Inspire Tolerance. They designed T-shirts to sell with the campaign’s theme on the front and their business sponsors on the back.
They hosted “Movie Knight,” a Dec. 19 fund raiser that included a showing of “Freedom Writers” and a silent auction, raffle and bake sale. The event raised $250.
But most of the $7,050 the school raised came from donations from businesses, she said. Two donations were for $1,000 or more, including an anonymous $1,500 donation the school received through the Lincoln Public Schools Foundation.
Gehr said the money would be used to pay for the Freedom Writers’ airfare, hotel and car rental, as well as a $1,000 honorarium for each of the speakers.
“We have a little bit of a budget to make sure they’re treated well while they’re here,” she said.
The school plans to use any extra money to continue the Inspire Tolerance campaign, Gehr said.
She said she is hopeful the Freedom Writers — who go only by their first names, Maria, Sharaud and Tiffony — will connect with students at Southeast High.
Torraco said the Freedom Writers already have.
“We all can see something in the book that relates to us, even though their situations are completely different than ours.”
Reach Kevin Abourezk at 473-7225 or kabourezk@journalstar.com.