During our virtual pandemic, educators have faced unprecedented obstacles and loss of interest from youth, as well as, the educators themselves this past year.  The youth in our community face poverty, physical abuse, drugs, foster care, homelessness and many other traumatic factors in their lives.  Unfortunately, Knott county and eastern Kentucky has been identified as an area with very high concentration of all the above. 

The 4-H agent and a local high school teacher set out to address these needs, as well as, needs identified through our local councils.  Our youth feeling more disconnected with the pandemic need now more than ever to feel an outreach of support, encouragement, inspiration and info on resources for traumatic situations that may arise. 

The entire junior class and staff were invited to be a part of a live learning experience with the highly-esteemed Freedom Writers Foundation from Long Beach, CA.  This sparked the interest of youth being the real-life students and teacher, Ms Gruwell, the characters from the popular movie were based on.  Even though the movie was based in an urban setting, the obstacles our youth face are almost mirrored.

In their English class, the students had been studying literary works such as Breathing Underwater, The Crucible, The Diary of Anne Frank, and The Freedom Writers Diary.  We felt studying literature that focused on youth and traumatic experiences prior to the zoom made the virtual experience more meaningful and relatable than "just a speaker".  

During the live zoom meeting, the participants listened as Ms. Erin Gruwell, along with some of the original Freedom Writer students from her class, shared deep, emotional stories about their lives and their own trauma.  From speaking about being homeless at an early age to dealing with intense issues at home to continuing current life, Ms. Gruwell and her students (Carlos, Tye, and Sue Ellen), offered a chance for everyone to know they are not alone.  They gave the students and adults who joined the meeting a sense of help and a promise of hope-an experience that they will never forget.

“My experience on this zoom meeting with the FW and Ms. Gruwell was amazing!  I had fun listening to their stories and their backgrounds.  They didn’t grow up a lot differently than me.  Ms. Gruwell was a wonderful teacher…I love how one English teacher can make a change for so many people.”  KCC Junior Coleene Elkins stated.  “I saw the movie, and now, I’m reading the book.  I was like ‘Wow’, she-one person- changed all of their lives.”

Ashley Watson, another KCC Junior stated, “It was really neat.  I had no idea they would be sharing so much about their personal lives.  Now, here they are.  I love and admire them so much because they have come so far and that makes us feel as if we can do the same.”  11^th grader, Kacey Mullins also added, “I loved getting to see them for real.  It is a great story, and now, we are part of their family, too. “

As the faculty and staff began sharing their comments, the KCC community became stronger and more determined to help young people in our area. Gear-Up Specialists, Mrs. Pamela Conn and Mrs. Lisa Neice offered the following:

“It was an honor to participate in the Zoom session with Erin Gruwell.  Her story has been shared in our GEAR UP trainings.  She is an inspiration to all that work with students.” said Mrs. Pamela Conn.

“I enjoyed participating in the Google Meet with Freedom Writers,” remarked Mrs. Lisa Niece.  “It was very interesting and uplifting to see how a teacher made such a difference in the lives of so many of her students.”

Since the live Zoom meeting, many more students and members of the KCC Family have offered words of encouragement and support for this event.  “I can’t believe it really happened in real-time for our students,” said Ms. Cathy Conley, a 2017 Freedom Writer Teacher and KCC English Teacher. “This story is just simply something that cannot be hidden from the rest of the world.  Our students and this community have so much to learn from those who are 3,000 or more miles away, and, we also have a great deal to share with them.  I am so proud of our area and thankful to be a part of such a project as this.”

Another KCC Junior exclaimed, “I loved it!  We loved them!  We are Knott Alone!”  Others have already shown interest in wanting to have a follow-up meeting in the Spring.