Acclaimed California teacher to speak at BGSU

The presentation, which is open to the public free of charge, will begin at 7:30 p.m. in 101 Olscamp Hall. A reception and book-signing will follow.

Gruwell's book, "Freedom Writers' Diary-How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them," is the product of her efforts to help 150 of her students, many of whom had been written off by the educational system. Her story of helping those students graduate from high school and attend college is being turned into a motion picture.

Gruwell is also founder and president of the Tolerance Education Foundation, a nonprofit organization that promotes tolerance and funds scholarships for underprivileged students. Her "Ambassadors of Tolerance Tour" took the Freedom Writers to the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland, to Anne Frank's apartment in Amsterdam, and to war-torn Sarajevo. Their journey will be made into a feature-length documentary.

Her vision and commitment to teaching tolerance have been featured in numerous newspapers and magazines, and her students have appeared on the Oprah Winfrey and Rosie O'Donnell television shows and on ABC's "Good Morning America," "Prime Time Live" and "The View."

She has won various humanitarian and teaching awards. Among them are the Spirit of Anne Frank Award, the American Jewish Committee Micah Award and the National Conference of Community and Justice Human Relations Award.

A 1991 graduate of the University of California-Irvine, Gruwell has been honored as "One of UCI'S Top 10 Graduates" and received the prestigious Lauds and Laurels Award for an Outstanding Graduate. She earned her master's degree in English literature and her teaching credential from California State University-Long Beach, where she is currently Distinguished Teacher in Residence in the colleges of liberal arts and education.

(Posted March 16, 2004 )