Streams was intentionally changing the character of the usual high school creative writing anthology. Instead of declaring the writing to be the best of the brightest, we were publishing a representative sample from the alternative high school sites Waterways visited. During the course of the year I motivated as many students as I could reach to attempt as much writing as possible. The material was first published by Barbara and me in photocopied site based magazines. By mid-February, we would begin to choose material from each site for the annual anthology based upon feedback from colleagues and students. As editors we were consciously developing a format that would help teachers present the writing to future classes.
Waterways was given the opportunity to mold a literature for a generation of New York City alternative high school students. Previous generation of at risk students had been given the option of leaving school. We were part of an effort to reach out to such students and encourage them to stay in school in the hope they would earn a diploma.
Not all students see education as the key to their success. They have to be convinced that reading and writing matters. We hope such skeptical students would find Streams relevant and want to own books written by peers. Our program published writing by students the traditional schools turned away. The impoverished, the school phobic, the rebellious, the sick, and the learning disabled, whose voices uttered the small cries of the human heart.
On the front cover of Streams 5 were two drawings -- one of a young adult and one of a child. The young adult is seen in silhouette wearing a heavy gold chain and carrying a Gucci jacket over his shoulder. The child, wearing earrings, a bracelet, and rings, is lacing up a sneaker, way too large for him. He’s trying to fill the shoes of his older brother.
The anthology began with a computer based correspondence between students who were attending classes provided in rehab programs by Offsite Educational Services (OES). The students wrote on Commodore 128 computers and saved their files to five inch floppy disks. Carolyn Green, the Waterways teacher, carried the discs to other OES sites:
Dear Pen Pal,
Hi, my name is Muneca. I am 20 years old and my height is 5’”. I am 125 pounds with green eyes, light brown with blonde hair...
Muneca received a response:
Hello Muneca,
My name is Trick Daddy. I am 18 years of age. I am six feet four inches tall; with dark brown eyes and naturally curly hair. No jerrycurl juice. I look Puerto Rican but I’m not...
Sticking out the program was a fundamental challenge to the students in all the rehabs. Muneca wrote back:
Hello, pen pal. I hope that you are all right and hanging in there. I say this because I heard that you and your friend were going through some changes. I hope that you hang in there, because leaving is not the move anymore. Staying and sticking it out means that you are very strong and able to deal with your problems.
In the next letter, Trick Daddy, shared some personal history:
I have a six month old son, but I’m not with the baby’s mother. Why? We don’t seem to get along any more, but I still see my son!!! By the way, my son looks just like his daddy; light skin, six feet four inches tall (just kidding!). But he’s handsome like me! Let me stop.
Muneca stopped writing for a few weeks. She was barred from writing by the rehab program. She finally explained to her pen pal that “I can’t write because I condoned my ‘supposed to be’ friend’s guilt; and a little of mine.”
Trick Daddy was supportive:
“...I know the situation you are going to be dealing with. I know what your state of mind must be like right now! But you got to be strong, as you encouraged me to do. I know you’re on a learning experience, but you wanna know something? It still doesn’t change how I feel about you, or how I look at you!! Please! Don’t feel guilty about the situation, because it happened to me before when I was in daytop’s upstate treatment. It will only make you a stronger woman. Notice I said that you are a woman; because you are gonna stick this out, right? I have confidence in your abilities, too! As a person once said to me, An obstacle is not the end. It’s a new beginning.”
That correspondence ended abruptly when she left the program. In the following correspondence between 18 year old Charles and 15 year old Missy, Charles wrote:
“I do have a son, who turned six months old a couple of weeks ago. But me and my baby’s mother are no longer together. Why? Because she lies about the little things like bringing my son over to see his father. I only associate with her to see my son. She had her chance to bury the hatchet! But I still respect her as I would any woman.”
Missy responded:
“I can understand where you are coming from with your baby’s mother. I used to be with a guy who was (and still is) a pathological liar. At least you aren’t just a slam bam, thank you ma’am type of guy. I like a guy who takes care of his. I know so many girls who got pregnant and the guys left them out there cold.”
Their correspondence continued through the Christmas. Charles wrote:
“My counselors expect me to do about 18 months or better!?! What I’m saying to myself is -- they got to be out of their cotton pickin’ minds!! I can’t see myself being here all that time!?! In fact, sometimes I feel like leaving! A lot of times I feel like leaving! But knowing that I’ll get a letter from you; it keeps me here.”
Streams 5
No comments:
Post a Comment