It's become a great tradition! In 2010 the SGH Medical Staff pledged 127 backpacks for kids in need and in 2011 the staff topped that with 163 backpacks. This year the Happiness Committee is working with the volunteer East County Foster Parents Association. They have expressed specific needs for foster teens for backpacks and pajamas. Again this year each $50 pledge will provide for those needs for an East County foster teen.
To make a pledge(s), please email Lesley Bradley at lesley.bradley@sharp.com or call 619-740-4145. Checks can be made payable to the SGH Medical Staff.
This year the Happiness Committee will make the presentation of the gifts at the General Medical Staff Meeting on Wednesday, September 19 (5:30 pm hors d'oeuvres and 6 pm program). Please mark your calendar for this very special meeting featuring speaker Erin Gruwell from Freedom Writers Foundation. (see details below) Spouses are welcome!
The Freedom Writers Foundation trains and supports teachers of at-risk middle and high school students through a pedagogical framework patterned after the success of Erin Gruwell, who began her teaching career in the fall of 1994, in Room 203 at Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach, California.
When Erin Gruwell was challenged by a room of students considered to be "unteachable," Gruwell adapted her curriculum to engage her students and encourage them to rethink rigid beliefs about themselves and others. By using relevant literature and fundraising to bring in speakers and take her students on fieldtrips, Gruwell convinced her at-risk students to reconsider the impact of their daily decisions and to take ownership of their futures. With her steadfast support, her students - who dubbed themselves "Freedom Writers," in homage to the Civil Rights leaders, the Freedom Riders - shattered stereotypes to become high school graduates, critical thinkers, aspiring college students and citizens for change.
