Fantastic Preview with @FairfieldUAM #UNLOAD Walsh Gallery Art Exhibit with Greenwich 8th Graders

Yesterday, 140 8th graders from Central Middle School participated in a workshop, Writing Our Lives and Unloading in the Limelight to position middle school stress in relation to positive written outcomes. Mary Himes and Darcy Hicks, who are actively working behind the scenes with the Fairfield University Art Museum, greeted students with Carey Mack Weber and Michelle DiMarzo to see a preview of Guns in the Hands of Artists, a week before the opening occurs.

The installation is incredible and the work speaks for itself. It is moving, inspirational, controversial, provocative, interrogating, healing, and absolutely thought-provoking. The kids were quiet as they walked through the show and made observations on notepads.

Meanwhile, students Akbar Niyonkuru, Michael J. Harding, and Zavon Billups helped with Ubuntu/Literacy4Life teamwork in the lobby. This was balanced with the rest of the workshop where we 8th graders read work by Kwame Alexander, Jason Reynolds, Jaqueline Woodson, Nic Stone, and Elizabeth Acavedo and used their incredible writing as inspiration for their own. My challenge to the kids was that they have a lot to #unload, but there is an alternative to violence. Can writing be an outlet to what stresses you most?

In addition to my 90-minute workshops, Drs. Elizabeth Boquet, Ryan Colwell, and Joshua Elliot led pull out workshops with writers Michael DeStefano, Matt Tullis and graphic novelist Jerry Craft. The kids had an entire day to process the artwork, while thinking critically about the potential in writing their own lives.

I was amazed by the Central 8th graders who, in a very short time, wrote compelling pieces that they were willing to share with with their peers (they have a lot on their minds and need an outlet to share their thinking). A round of applause, too, to Penguin Random House Children's Books who provided advanced readers copies of upcoming books that I was able to hand out to the most active writers and volunteers.

I am forever grateful to to Emily (a grad student), Akbar (a high school student, soon to be Stag) and Dr. Betsy Bowen for giving up so much of their time to make sure that the 140 kids found the right workshops and had a great day of writing.

The teachers at Central Middle School in Greenwich are simply outstanding. They love their kids, they guide them, they're connected with the best literacy instruction and the passionately support the youth the work with. What a school!

The Guns in the Hands of Artists exhibit will be at the Walsh Gallery in the Quick Center until the October 12th date. Fairfield University is very fortunate to have this collection on hand for the next several months. It is a phenomenal experience.