In Progress: Teen Voices from Summer 2022

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Click here to contact Mariah

Mariah Villarreal

Rooted in community and transformative justice, Mariah wants to help foster a learning ecosystem which prioritizes our individual and collective agencies and voices. They are dedicated to promoting lifelong learning, creative expression, and equitable access to information and literacy. In their role as Development and Operations Coordinator, she strives to support the incredible work of the WriteBoston team, especially our youth writers.

Prior to joining this initiative, they worked with youth in schools and in out-of-school programs with a special focus on creative expression at the intersection of digital media arts and computer programming. She loves to organize events for adult learners interested in equity and education. They received their BA in International Relations from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas, as well as their MA in History and Sociocultural Analysis from the Universidad de Oviedo in Spain. In her free time, she practices singing bel canto and occasionally paraglides.

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Click here to contact Liberty

Liberty Britz

Liberty grew up on a small chicken and goat farm in in North Carolina. She moved to Boston to attend Northeastern University and graduated with a B.A. in Human Services. To her own surprise, she grew to love Boston and learned to tolerate the winter. An avid reader, she’s always cherished good writing and has acted as an editor for the better part of her life. She finds joy in encouraging others to embrace their unique voices.

Prior to WriteBoston, Liberty worked at two other nonprofits in Greater Boston, as a freelance editor, and at two flower shops. In her free time, she can be found attempting (or admiring) fiber art projects and tending to her growing collection of house plants.

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Click here to contact Elvis

Elvis Alvarado

Born and raised in Boston, Elvis has developed a profound love for the city and believes it has played an integral role in the formation of his identity. Choosing to stay in Boston for his undergraduate studies at Boston University reaffirmed his love for his hometown and allowed him to get involved in his community. Through working with programs like the Paul Robeson Institute, Upward Bound, and the Boston Debate League, he found his passion for working with youth. Elvis draws his inspiration and motivation from the students he has worked with and hopes to encourage those around him to serve the communities that need it most.

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Click here to contact Reuben

Reuben Howard

As the Director of Professional Learning & Partnerships, Reuben supervises WriteBoston’s coaching team and supports schools as an embedded coach and PD provider. They love having meaningful, practice-changing conversations with educators while actively working toward more equitable educational spaces for all learners—youth and adults. He oversees new and existing partnerships and is always eager to explore ways WriteBoston can support a school, district, or organization’s work. They also lead internal professional development for staff as a part of WriteBoston’s commitment to continuous learning and growth.

Prior to joining WriteBoston in the summer of 2021 as a Literacy Coach, they were fortunate to teach middle and high schoolers at charter and district schools across Cambridge, Chelsea, and Dorchester. As an educator, Reuben emphasized his students not only honing their communication skills, but also their identities as writers who share their work with larger audiences while also advocating for social justice. Outside of the classroom, Reuben took on leadership roles and worked as an independent consultant to support educators of various backgrounds through professional development, instructional coaching, and equity-centered facilitation.

Originally from a small town outside Dallas, Reuben ventured north as the first in their family to go to college. He attended Harvard University, where he graduated with honors in English, and went on to receive an M.Ed. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. When they’re not working, they can be found exploring new music, playing video games, writing for fun, and reading for work.

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Click here to contact Mohamed

Mohamed Barrie

Born in Sierra Leone, raised in both Conakry (Guinea) and Abidjan (Ivory Coast), Mohamed is accustomed to changing his environment. Before moving to Boston with his wife, who’s doing her PhD at Harvard, Mohamed lived in Antwerp, Belgium with his parents and siblings for the past 17 years.

In Belgium he left his mark as one of the key Black (youth) voices advocating for social change. As a community builder, writer, and social worker, Mohamed enjoys creating and co-creating spaces that foster change or challenge power and shift paradigms. As a result of this effort, Mohamed co-created the City Pirates women’s department of European award-winning social soccer club, working closely with youth, parents and their schools to guide them. With his partner, they initiated and lead Black History Month Belgium.

Moving to Boston and being at WriteBoston feels like coming home to a space that combines all these passions that drive him: storytelling, journalism, youth development, systemic change, and joy in creating. Mohamed enjoys coaching youth and building solid relationships and partnerships.

Most of the time you’ll find him smiling and enjoying music (ask him about Nina Simone). If you find any new vegan spots or recipes please do tell him, because next to community work and soccer he loves nature, music, and food.

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Click here to contact Safi

Safi Farah

Safi grew up in the City of Champions so from a very young age she’s been a straight shooter (KOBE!). She specifically grew up in Jamaica Plain and is a former Boston Public Schools student as well. She attended Boston College for her undergraduate studies and has since used her love of language to frame the world around her. She believes language is one of the single most powerful tools you can equip yourself with so she has joined WriteBoston to do just that.

When not working Safi enjoys recording her podcast about anime and working out in the different areas of Boston.

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Click here to contact Abdi

Abdi Mohamed Ali, Ed.D.

Abdi is a curriculum designer, classroom teacher and a former district administrator in the Boston Public Schools with almost three decades of experience. Trained in educational ethnography under the mentorship of Dr. Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, he has taught students in grades 5-12 in five different schools. He is a founding faculty member of the Boston Arts Academy where for 13 years he co-designed an interdisciplinary humanities program and established a student-led magazine, Slateblue Arts. Abdi also co-created Journey to Brotherhood, a rites of passage curriculum for young men of color to contest capitalist logics of masculinity and to forge solidarity.

Prior to joining WriteBoston, Abdi led the largest expansion of district-based teacher preparation and licensure programs for paraeducators, career changers and bilingual candidates. This multigenerational teacher pipeline established teaching apprenticeships for high school and college students as well. With an unwavering belief in the genius of BIPoC, im/migrant and students who are experiencing persistent poverty in the US, Abdi finds meaning in designing mutually humanizing programs in partnership with youth. When not counteracting the hidden curriculum of incrementalism and meritocracy, Abdi is either reading Toni Morrison, who is hands-down the GOAT, dreaming up a serene garden for his family in their Roxbury home, or shopping for fresh produce.

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Click here to contact Meghan

Meghan Rosenberg

Meghan has spent her career in public education in and around Boston. Most recently, she was an educational consultant and curriculum writer, working on Mass Insight’s School Improvement Team supporting district-wide equity audits around Massachusetts, as well as creating an ongoing curriculum series for The Immigrant Learning Center in Malden. Prior to consulting, Meghan was the founding middle school Humanities teacher and team leader at a Boston K-12 charter school. Meghan holds a Bachelor of Arts in Education and Linguistics from Brown University and a Master’s in Teaching Secondary English from Tufts University, as well as active Massachusetts teaching licenses in English, History, and English as a Second Language.

Meghan is passionate about systems changes for equity and wellbeing and is so excited to join the WriteBoston team; she is looking forward to being back in schools and working with educators on a daily basis. In her various roles, she works to create educational spaces where all students can thrive as their individual selves and develop the tools to shape the world around them. At home, Meghan enjoys getting involved with her local community and school system, spending time outside, and reading science fiction, but can realistically be found at a playground with her young daughters or discussing the finer points of Bluey.

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Click here to contact Rebecca

Rebecca Eppall

Rebecca has spent the last decade working in education, most recently leading the education team at UTEC, Inc in Lowell. She started her career teaching middle school science in New York, then moved to the Boston area where she taught all subjects as a HiSET educator before moving into program administration and coaching. She believes that every young person deserves access to high quality education that centers their experiences and honors their expertise and brilliance. She is passionate about supporting educators in teaching explicitly anti-racist social-emotional skills alongside content to support students in achieving the goals they set for themselves. She seeks to use her coaching work to make educational spaces more equitable for young people and the adults who work with them. When she’s not thinking and learning about how to improve education and outcomes for young people, Rebecca loves to read YA fantasy and sci-fi and spend time in the woods with her family.

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Click here to contact Meredith

Meredith Moore

Meredith Moore is an equity-focused educator with over 20 years of experience. With a B.A. in History and Literature from Harvard University and an M.S. in Childhood Education from Bank Street College, she had the pleasure of spending the first decade of her career teaching elementary and middle school students in three states. As she experienced different contexts, including public, charter, and private schools, Meredith became increasingly concerned about the stark inequities in our current educational system. She left the classroom for a Ph.D. at Boston College, in order to research approaches to making schools more equitable and inclusive. In recent years, Meredith has brought an equity lens to roles as instructional coach, curriculum developer, researcher, and teacher educator. She is also the founder of Kids for Racial Justice, which supports children in developing the commitment and tools to dismantle racism.

Through her role as an Instructional Coach at WriteBoston, Meredith seeks to enhance teachers’ capacity to foster the brilliance of young people and ultimately to create more equitable schools. In her free time, she can be found practicing guitar, climbing at the rock gym, or encouraging her own kids to question white supremacy, gender norms, and other systems of oppression.

Heather McGhee

Heather designs and promotes solutions to inequality in America. Over her career in public policy, Heather has crafted legislation, testified before Congress and helped shape presidential campaign platforms.

Heather is an educator, serving currently as a Visiting Lecturer in Urban Studies at the City University of New York’s School of Labor and Urban Studies. She has also held visiting positions at Yale University’s Brady-Johnson Grand Strategy Program and the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics. She is the recipient of honorary degrees from Muhlenberg College, Niagara University, and CUNY Graduate School of Public Health & Health Policy.

She holds a B.A. in American Studies from Yale University and a J.D. from the University of California at Berkeley School of Law. McGhee is the chair of the board of Color Of Change, the nation’s largest online racial justice organization, and also serves on the boards of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the Open Society Foundations’ US Programs and Demos.

Click here to visit Heather’s website.

Jaime Lowe

Jaime Lowe is a frequent contributor to The New York Times Magazine. Her work has also appeared in New York magazine, The Atlantic, Esquire, Sports Illustrated, Gawker, The Village Voice, LA Weekly, and on ESPN.com. Lowe also reported the hour-long episode of “This American Life” — Ten Sessions — on trauma therapy. She has spoken about mental health and social justice on national programs like PBS, NPR, Radiolab, and Democracy Now! and has collaborated with the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the American Center in Cairo on presentations about bipolar disorder.

Click here to follow Jaime on twitter.

Pacifique Irankunda

Pacifique Irankunda was born in Burundi, a small country in East Africa bordered by Rwanda, Tanzania, and Congo. He came to America at the age of nineteen as a scholarship student at Deerfield Academy in western Massachusetts. His first published work, “Playing at Violence,” appeared in The American Scholar and won a Pushcart Prize. Irankunda was awarded a Whiting Creative Nonfiction Grant in 2017. He graduated from Williams College with a degree in psychology and political science. He lives in Brooklyn.

Click here to visit Pacifique’s website.

Simon Han

Simon was born in Tianjin, China and raised in various cities in Texas. My short stories and essays have appeared in The Atlantic, Virginia Quarterly Review, Guernica, Electric Literature, Lit Hub, and the Texas Observer. He has received awards from MacDowell, the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, the Tulsa Artist Fellowship, and Vanderbilt University, where he earned my MFA. His novel Nights When Nothing Happened was named a best book of the year by TIME, The Washington Post, and Harper’s Bazaar.

Click here to visit Simon’s website.

Teens in Print’s new digital home

In June 2022, Teens in Print unveiled a new website to publish student writing. (Have you taken a look?) The sleek new site is designed to better engage teen readers, educators, and adults – and will serve as TiP’s core publication moving forward.

The website features better search functionality, easier opportunities to highlight youth writing, and new student portfolio pages. Plus, it’s easier for us to update—so we can change the site as our programming adapts. After nine months and loads of feedback from teen writers, we’re excited to share this contemporary platform for youth voices.

Explore the site 👀

Animated GIF of scrolling through the new tip website

Supporting summer learning & the educator pipeline in Worcester

In 2020, WriteBoston coach Liz and community partners based in Worcester saw an opportunity to meet a gap in the city’s out-of-school offerings. By summer 2021, ALTAS—short for Audre Lorde Transformative Art Summer—was born. This free 5-week summer program for Worcester middle schoolers is a collaboration among Clark University, Worcester’s Division of Youth Opportunities, WriteBoston, and funders.

ALTAS offers youth arts, justice, and literacy-based learning opportunities while recruiting and supporting educators of color. Liz led curriculum development for ALTAS and provided professional learning for staff, ranging from early career teachers to college interns and high school fellows. The program continued in 2022 with over 30 students, arts and social change workshops, and lots of summer fun.

Bethany Soto-Gomez

Bethany is a sophomore at Madison Park Technical Vocational High School. She enjoys free writing, as well as different kinds of creative writing, as a way to express herself. She finds it oftentimes very difficult to communicate her thoughts and feelings, and took on writing as a way to help do that in her own way.

She thought it would be a really interesting project to ask questions about writing to a real author and get their thoughts. Although writing is something really close to her and has helped her through many difficult times, she one day wants to be in the medical field to work on her career as a doctor.

Click here to read “Our schools are still segregated,” an op-ed by Bethany.

Qadra Abdullahi

Qadra is a junior at Madison Park Technical Vocational High School. She enjoys reading books or baking in her free time. English Language Arts is her favorite subject and she enjoys horror movies or adventure books.

Click here to read “Growing up as a Muslim girl in America,” a personal essay by Qadra.

Sanjida Surovi

Sanjida is a senior at Boston International High School. She’s originally from Bangladesh and she’s a Muslim. She’s a first generation student going to college in the US from her family. In her free time she likes to travel with her family. Writing is her passion, but for her profession she wants to become a doctor.

Click here to read “The untold story,” a personal essay by Sanjida.

Anthony Abraham Jack

Anthony Abraham Jack received his BA in Women’s and Gender Studies and Religion cum laude from Amherst College and an AM and PhD in Sociology from Harvard University. He is a Junior Fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows and an assistant professor of education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He holds the Shutzer assistant professorship at the Harvard Radcliffe Institute.

His scholarship appears in the Common Reader, Du Bois Review, Sociological Forum, and Sociology of Education and has earned awards from the American Educational Studies Association, American Sociological Association, Association for the Study of Higher Education, Eastern Sociological Society, and the Society for the Study of Social Problems. Tony held fellowships from the Ford Foundation and the National Science Foundation and was a National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation Dissertation Fellow. The National Center for Institutional Diversity at the University of Michigan named him an Emerging Diversity Scholar. In 2020, Muhlenberg College awarded him an honorary doctorate and the National Head Start Association named him a BOLD Alumni Leader for his work in transforming higher education.

The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Atlantic, The New Yorker, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Nation, American Conservative Magazine, The National Review, The Washington Post, Vice, Vox, and NPR have featured his research and writing as well as biographical profiles of his experiences as a first-generation college student. His first book, The Privileged Poor: How Elite Colleges Are Failing Disadvantaged Students, was awarded the 2020 Mirra Komarovsky Book Award, the 2019 CEP Mildred Garcia Award for Exemplary Scholarship, and the Thomas J. Wilson Memorial Prize and was also named a finalist for the 2019 C. Wright Mills Award and a NPR Book’s Best Book of 2019.

Click here to view Anthony’s website.

Jennifer De Leon

Jennifer De Leon is author of the YA novel Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From (Simon & Schuster, 2020) which was chosen as a Junior Library Guild selection, and the essay collection White Space: Essays on Culture, Race, & Writing (UMass Press, 2021), which is a recipient of the Juniper Prize in Creative Nonfiction. She is also the editor of Wise Latinas: Writers on Higher Education (University of Nebraska Press, 2014), an anthology that won an International Latino Book Award. An Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at Framingham State University and faculty member in the MFA in Program at Bay Path University, she has published prose in over a dozen literary journals including Ploughshares, Iowa Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, and more. Jenn makes her home outside the Boston area with her husband and two sons. Her next YA novel, Borderless, is forthcoming in August, 2022. Also on the way are two children’s picture books—So Many Gifts, and a biography of Nobel Peace Prize winner, Rigoberta Menchú.

Click here to visit Jenn’s website.

Neema Avashia

Neema Avashia was born and raised in southern West Virginia to parents who immigrated from India to the United States in the late 1960s. She has been a history and civics teacher and education activist in the Boston Public Schools since 2003. Her first book, Another Appalachia: Coming Up Queer and Indian in a Mountain Place, is out from WVU Press this year.

Click here to explore Neema’s website.

Teacher Testimonial from Rachel Barlage

Rachel Barlage, Lead Teacher at Chelsea High School, reflected on her work with WriteBoston at our Pros&Conversation event in May. A long-term partner of WriteBoston, Rachel attended our free workshop series last year to continue accessing support throughout the pandemic.

New Virtual Workshop Series for Educators

By the summer of 2020, teachers had finished off a tumultuous school year and were trying their best to prepare for an uncertain fall. Our coaches launched a new summer workshop series (free and open to educators in Boston and beyond) to offer advice on flexible planning strategies, facilitating on and offline learning, and much more. Responses from teachers were overwhelmingly positive, and we continued the sessions throughout the 2020-21 school year.

“Missing from so much of the media narrative right now is this fact: teachers want to show up for their students, teach their content, and serve their students and their content area well. But there is no playbook for K-12 teachers to follow in this scenario.”

- Reflections from Kelly, a WriteBoston coach

Read Kelly’s full reflection

Educators Reflect on Virtual Learning

At our Pros&Conversation event in May, educators shared what it’s been like to work with our coaching and professional development team during the pandemic. They reflected on virtual and hybrid learning, changes they’d seen in their classrooms and schools, and the significance of writing this year.

Writing through the Distance

The website

In August 2020, Teens in Print launched Writing through the Distance, a new website created to elevate the voices of Greater Boston youth during COVID-19. Throughout the year, we published writing and media content by young people including Teens in Print writers, students in partner classrooms, youth affiliated with community organizations, and beyond.

Explore the website

The magazine

At the end of last school year, we published the Writing through the Distance magazine: a special project to celebrate the incredible work our young writers produced throughout the year. Our journalists wrote about mental health, virtual school, new hobbies, and much, much more.

Read the magazine

Rising Voices Awards Show: Students Reflect

The Rising Voices awards are TiP’s in-house writing contest to celebrate outstanding student work. Last February, we announced our award winners in a live stream event. Watch the video to hear directly from students on their work and how it felt to be nominated for this award.

TiPsters featured in The Boston Globe

Student perspectives are a vital part of our public discourse, especially around education. We’re incredibly proud of our TiPsters whose work was featured in the Boston Globe’s “Out of a Crisis: the Voices of Our Students” series. The Globe’s Great Divide team launched this series last fall to amplify student perspectives on “learning and living amid a pandemic.”

There’s nothing like being a teenager during this pandemic

A poem by Hiwan Maru

Listen to Hiwan’s poem

My name is Mariella Murillo, and I am struggling

A personal essay by Mariella Murillo

Read Mariella’s essay

Liz Leidel

Liz is a Writing and Instructional Coach at WriteBoston. For the past two years, Liz has worked with educators across Greater Boston to hone their teaching practice and improve students’ literacy learning.

How did you get involved with WriteBoston? I have been an instructional coach at WriteBoston since 2018. After years of teaching and some experience as an administrator, I wanted to find a place where I could work with a wide range of teachers on issues that truly mattered to them and made a difference in the experiences that students would have in their classrooms. WriteBoston has allowed me to be that supportive presence in schools where teachers are excited to learn and it’s been such a privilege to work alongside teachers every day.

What’s most unique about WriteBoston? We are able to provide professional development that is thoughtfully tailored to support and complement the on-going work and address the unique needs of a particular school, as opposed to using a “one-size-fits-all” approach.

Why is it important to support this work? Teaching is hard work and teachers deserve high quality professional development opportunities and personalized coaching that equips them to better serve their students and leads them to feel respected, confident and fulfilled.

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Cindy Tran

Cindy Tran is a high school senior at Boston Latin School and the founder of an international literary and art magazine called Outlander. She is also a writer at TiP and Adolescent, and an editor at Unpublished Magazine, the Young Writers Initiative, and more. Her pieces, often written in bursts of energy found only in the latest hours of the night, are usually based on her deepest infatuations and oddly philosophical shower thoughts. When she isn’t at her desk writing or editing, you can find her meticulously planning her life out in a worn black Moleskine journal or attempting to cram more books onto her already caving shelf.

Read Cindy’s opinion piece, “The importance of the arts in our society”

Elizabeth Choi

Elizabeth Choi is a sophomore at Boston Latin School who has been with Teens in Print since the fall of 2020. She loves to read, watch movies, and spend time with her friends and family. Although she does not know what she wants to do, she is considering a path of journalism.

Read Elizabeth’s photo essay, “Staying positive despite the coronavirus”

Deborah Adebanjo

Deborah Adebanjo is a junior at Boston Trinity Academy. She was born in Nigeria but came to the U.S at a young age. If her friends were to describe her they’d say she’s goofy and humorous, but also genuine, kind, and empathetic. Deborah is passionate about social justice and has been a leader in her local community. She writes poetry that she performs sometimes. She can speak three other languages which are Yoruba, French, and Japanese. She also used to play varsity Basketball and now do boxing. She enjoys writing articles, book, and movie reviews during her spare time for her local library. Overall, she’s someone who likes to have fun, but she’s also hard working.

Read Deborah’s recent opinion piece, “Black women need more mental health support”

Bina Venkataraman

Bina Venkataraman is the Editorial Page Editor of The Boston Globe, and the author of The Optimist’s Telescope: Thinking Ahead in a Reckless Age (Riverhead Books, 2019). She teaches in the program on science, technology & society at MIT. Bina formerly served as Director of Global Policy Initiatives at the Broad Institute and as Senior Advisor for Climate Change Innovation in the Obama White House. Previously, she was a science journalist for The New York Times and The Boston Globe. Bina is a fellow at New America, and an alumna of Brown University and the Harvard Kennedy School. She grew up in a small town in Ohio.

Jeneé Osterheldt

Jeneé Osterheldt is a culture columnist who covers identity and social justice through the lens of culture and the arts. Her work centers Black lives and the lives of people of color. She is also the creator of A Beautiful Resistance, a special project for The Boston Globe that centers Black voices and celebrates Black Joy.

Jeneé’s job is to provide context. Sometimes this means writing about Beyoncé and Black womanhood or unpacking the importance of public art and representation. Sometimes this means taking systemic racism, sexism, and oppression to task. It always means Black lives matter.

She joined the Globe in 2018. A native of Alexandria, Va. and a graduate of Norfolk State University, Osterheldt was a 2017 Nieman Fellow at Harvard, where her studies focused on the intersection of art and justice. She previously worked as a Kansas City Star culture columnist.

Nicholas St. Fleur

Nicholas St. Fleur is a Knight-Wallace Reporting Fellow for STAT. He covers the intersection of race, medicine, and the life sciences. Prior to joining STAT, he was a freelance science journalist in the San Francisco Bay Area covering archaeology, paleontology, space, and other curiosities of the cosmos. He previously worked for The New York Times and The Atlantic, and completed internships at Scientific American, Science Magazine, NPR, and the San Jose Mercury News. Nicholas received a B.S. in biology from Cornell University and is a graduate of the Science Communication Program at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Clinton Nguyen, TiP Alum

Clinton is an alum of the Teens in Print program. He wrote for Teens in Print before graduating high school in 2018. Clinton is now a junior at UMass Amherst.

I got involved with WriteBoston my sophomore year of high school through their Teens in Print and Summer Journalism Institute program. I am involved today by keeping in touch with previous mentors such as the program coordinator, Carla Gualdrón, who will always keep a place in my heart. She has inspired me to major in journalism and hopefully one day I will come back and share my knowledge with aspiring journalists of the program.

Teens in Print is the only free program that allows youth to write for a city-wide print newspaper and cultivate their knowledge in the field of journalism.

Journalism is not appreciated enough, especially when some deem it the “enemy of the people.” WriteBoston shows the importance of the press and gives skills that are transferable to virtually any job.

Michelle Hower, McKinley South End Academy

Michelle Hower is a 7th and 8th grade English language arts and math teacher at McKinley South End Academy. She’s worked with a WriteBoston coach to incorporate high-quality literacy practices into her classroom. Read Michelle’s full reflection here.

The simple feeling of being heard is a powerful one. Liz, my WriteBoston coach, has helped my confidence as a teacher so much. I am in my second full year of teaching so it is easy to become overwhelmed, but Liz has been there for me week after week with her positive reassurance.

It takes confidence to lead a group of young minds. Not only has WriteBoston given me a foundation of tools and resources, but, most importantly, the confidence I need to maximize those resources.

English Language Learner Teacher, BINcA

Below are reflections from an English Language Learner teacher who works at Boston International High School and Newcomers Academy (BINcA) and has more than 5 years of classroom experience under their belt. WriteBoston and BINcA have partnered for over a decade in various ways. We currently provide coaching support to BINcA teachers.

I love working with WriteBoston because I’m constantly reminded that teaching is a practice–that we are here to try new moves in order to meet the ever-evolving needs of our students. Working with WriteBoston gives me the confidence to try out those things, to challenge my comfort areas, and to reflect on my practice. Suggestions are always practical, and there is never any judgment or criticism. I love the feeling of collaborating with a smart colleague to improve my teaching practice.

Vocational Teacher, Madison Park High School

Below are reflections from an anonymous vocational teacher at Madison Park Technical Vocational High School (MPTVHS) in Boston. WriteBoston has offered coaching and professional development support at Madison Park since 2016. Read more about the partnership here.

WriteBoston is the true definition of a partnership. My coach genuinely cares about helping me succeed—not in a let me tell you what to do way, but let’s work to get there together way.

Richia Jean-Baptiste, Teens in Print staff writer

Below is an excerpt from “We should expect wildfires until we take our climate more seriously.” This piece was written by Richia Jean-Baptiste, a staff writer for Teens in Print, and published in the March 2020 edition of the newspaper. Read the full article here.

It’s important to discuss [extreme weather events and natural disasters] so that action can take place. In the past, we started using more fossil fuels to create things, focusing on how bright and lovely our future will be with a bunch of new technology. But if we keep treating our Earth like this, the only one we have, we won’t be able to replace it like we can replace a broken iPhone. We should work together and help fix it by doing little things like throwing your waste in the trash can, using more reusable items and only driving a car when necessary. It would make our world a much better place to live with cleaner streets that we are proud to walk across, better air to breathe and less trash in the ocean.

When people ask if we understand what’s happening to the planet we say yes, but we often don’t do anything to help make the world better. Let me be the pair of glasses you need to see the world, because before you know it there won’t be anything else to see. I know this is scary to think about, but it needs to be said before it’s too late. And it’s almost too late.

The After School student podcast

This past year, our student editorial board launched a podcast—a thrilling first for the program. The After School was planned, recorded, and produced by our students. Listen to the first episode below, in which the editorial board reflects on why Teens in Print and journalism are important to them.

“My favorite article was about internalized homophobia … that article meant so much to me only because the first line said, ‘I’m gay.’ And this was something that was huge to me, ’cause I was revealing myself to too—honestly, too many people.

There’s so many teens, too many teens, that are scared to speak, me still being one of them. I’m still scared to speak and say certain things, and I’m still scared to write certain things, and I have to learn to not let that go, but to put it on, like, the back burner … At the end of the day I’m writing this for those teens, because they may not have the same opportunities as I do. Seeing that someone may have similar problems as they do … it makes so much of a difference.”

– Nathan DeJesus, Teens in Print editor in Episode 1: The After School Feels

Love the first episode? Listen to the second episode on Youtube or Spotify.

School closings give me more time to plan for the future

By Zoe Rampersad

Zoe is a Staff Writer for Teens in Print and an 8th grader at the Lyndon K-8 School in Boston.

“I think it’s wise to look at this time as room to grow rather than feeling like you’re in a prison.”

April 27, 2020 // It’s the sixth week of quarantine and so much has changed. On Tuesday, I found out that my school is closing for the rest of the year. It may seem pretty silly to be sad about a school closing when so many people are dying, but it means a lot to me. I was homeschooled until seventh grade, and I’ve learned so much about myself since I started public school. I’ve made friends that I can’t talk to online, so I may never see them again, and that makes me really sad.

It also shows how serious this is because everything is closing for at least two more months. I feel like if we had taken COVID-19 more seriously when it first started spreading to Europe and the U.S., things would have been calming down by now. We didn’t and now we have to double down. I am trying to make the most of my time because I know that this may never happen again. So I’m trying to spend a lot of time with my family, learn new things, appreciate my friends, and just try to be the best me that I can. I’ve been distancing myself from people that aren’t great for me, studying extra, and changing things about myself that I think could be better.

I think it’s wise to look at this time as room to grow rather than feeling like you’re in a prison. It’s really good to look back on all the little things that we took for granted because when we get them back we’ll appreciate it way more. I’m trying to stay optimistic and focus on the good things. For example, I’m starting high school next year and schools closing gives me more time to prepare for that, or I can use this time to think about some of the things I want in life and what I have to do to get there. I think that if we stay positive, and take all of the precautions to stop the spread of COVID-19, it won’t seem as bad, and we’ll be better off.

Schools cancelled and connections are fraying

By Caleb Bove

Caleb is an Editor for Teens in Print and a senior at Boston Latin Academy. Read his other work for TiP here.

“None of us were really prepared for the prospect of never seeing many of our school friends again.”

April 27, 2020 // Recently, Boston Public School students like myself have been notified that the rest of our school year has been cancelled. While not all of us were surprised, none of us were really prepared for the prospect of never seeing many of our school friends again.

Many of us have known each other throughout the hellish experience that is high school, and this cancellation eliminates many of the chances we would have had to say goodbye. The end of our school year was not certain, and social distancing discourages us from meeting up with school friends outside of school even if we have their contact information. This uncertain and unplanned abrupt ending to our high school lives lacks the catharsis that a prom or graduation ceremony would.

In terms of a solution to this problem, unfortunately, there aren’t many options. BPS officials don’t really have set times when social distancing can end, so it is difficult to set up student meet-ups or know if there will be an opportunity for any at all. However, I would encourage any BPS officials reading this to make reasonable attempts to reschedule proms and graduation ceremonies. These things mean a lot to students, especially seniors. I would also encourage any students like myself reading this to maintain their connections with friends they have made in the past four to six years. Meet up with people this summer if you can, or connect with them virtually if face-to-face communication is still out of the question. The last thing we want is to lose the little closure we stood to gain when it came to our high school experiences.

Teacher Perspective: Angela Gordon

Angela Gordon

Angela is a teacher at The Trotter K-8 School in Boston. This is her first year working with her WriteBoston instructional coach, Scarlett. They’ve continued to work together during the shutdown.

“Families are afraid. Yet, each day when 16-20 out of my 23 students join our virtual session, I am reminded of the sacred learning environment we created physically, which has shifted so nicely into our virtual space.”

What has been the largest challenge of pivoting to a virtual classroom?

The pivoting challenge for me has been seeing the students that were much more productive in the classroom struggling in a virtual setting. I believe this is caused by the mere fact that due to uncertainty our world is experiencing, families have abandoned what our children need the most, which are routines, structures and schedules. Families are afraid. Yet, each day when 16-20 out of my 23 students join our virtual session, I am reminded of the sacred learning environment we created physically, which has shifted so nicely into our virtual space. In this new space, there is lots of engagement in our meetings and my students and I are enjoying learning together, how to manage different virtual platforms as we go along. The emotional and basic needs of all, students, families, and my colleagues are noted and acknowledged each time we meet, because we can still see and speak to one another and inherently know that somehow we will get through this new normal together.

How has the WriteBoston coach been supporting you during the school closure?

Additionally, in the past few weeks, my WriteBoston coach Scarlett Tannetta continues to play a critical role supporting Ms. Gordon’s Fabulous Fifth Grade, on our second piece of writing. Ms. Scarlett provides continuous support of mine and my students writing ideas, giving feedback on my exemplar examples for students, as well as joining and assisting zoom breakout room sessions with students. I truly value this teaching and learning opportunity that promotes my students’ ability to grasp the importance of the written word.

Even with a settled schedule, many students still miss traditional schooling

By Samiir Muhamed

Samiir is a Staff Writer for Teens in Print and a 12th Grader at Boston International Newcomers Academy.

“It is just you and the screen and there is no one beside you to explain the work in your native language or eat a snack with you…but online classes offer some unique benefits.”

April 14, 2020 // School has been closed for four weeks. Undergraduates and high school students are taking classes online and other people are working. While you work on your homework, you can listen to music, or if you don’t understand words very clearly you can open a dictionary to help you retain what you are doing. To be honest, I listen to a lot of music to keep going and sometimes I look at a dictionary to make my work more professional. For me, online classes are fun and great because my school schedule has not changed. The expectations are still the same.

A huge advantage of online classes is forcing you to have self-discipline. You don’t have a teacher or someone to push you to do work. You have to actually log-in to your computer to participate in the discussion to get participation credit. Being lazy or undisciplined causes you to fall behind. Another reason I like online classes is that you don’t have to dress up. If you want, you can do your work in your pajamas or you can lay in your bed or on your couch while you listen to a lecture.

Of course, I do miss the physical classroom, my teachers and my classmates. It was nice to have classmates who were always joking and trying to help each other. Right now it is just you and the screen and there is no one beside you who might be able to explain the work to you in your native language or eat a snack with you. However, it is not always easy to focus in class. Sometimes you are tired and studying in a loud or noisy environment makes it much more difficult to concentrate.

Online classes might not work for everybody because in different situations some people might need a traditional classroom to learn, but online classes offer me some unique benefits like self-discipline. These benefits allow me to push myself to graduate from high school.

Virtual study doesn’t work for everyone

By Malia McClerkin

Malia is an Editor for Teens in Print and a senior at Boston Collegiate Charter School. Read Malia’s full archive of TiP articles here.

“If the apocalypse has done anything for me, it has proven that my brain is incapable of learning through a computer.”

April 14, 2020 // If the apocalypse has done anything for me, it has proven that my brain is incapable of learning through a computer.

For most of my life, my routine has been to show up to school, sit at a desk, ask questions, listen to lectures, raise my hand and repeat. This has always been my key to success in terms of completing work. I have found that I’m most successful when sitting in a building that is not my house in complete silence.

But with this national shut down, classrooms became Zoom meetings, everything is now on Google Classroom and I’ve found myself waking up at 11 in the morning even though my Zoom class started at 10. The structure and familiarity of school have been completely stripped away from me and that has impacted my work tremendously. Two teachers have already emailed my parents scolding me for not doing an assignment that has been buried in my email amongst other projects that I forgot it existed.

Being motivated is harder now that all of my AP exams are only 45 minutes long and open-note. I have enough credits as a senior to simply stop taking the classes. School seems like such a joke now that I can take lecture notes in my bathrobe and the faculty have to send emails telling kids to stop inviting random people that yell cuss words into the Zoom classes and refrain from FaceTime-ing in the bathroom.

My advice: set an alarm, shower, take off your pajamas, put on real clothes and set up a space to work so it feels as much like the normal routine as it possibly can.

Hopefully, I can follow my own advice. Senior year is looking slow.

Fun with cards: How COVID-19 closures led to family bonding

By Cristian Dubon-Solis

Cristian is a Staff Writer for Teens in Print and a Senior at the John D. O’Bryant School of Mathematics and Science in Boston. Read more of Cristian’s work for TiP here.

“I was by no means a stranger to having fun with my family, but I’ve never truly hung out with them. So I grabbed my deck of playing cards and asked my little sisters if they wanted to play some card games.”

March 28, 2020 // Since schools are closed, students have no choice but to self-quarantine. Boredom slowly crept its way into my life and I was running out of entertainment, but then I realized something: I have a family.

Well, obviously, but it never occurred to me that I can have fun with them. Before the outbreak, I was rarely free to spend any quality time with my own family because of schoolwork, college applications, etc … I was by no means a stranger to having fun with my family, but I’ve never truly hung out with them. So I grabbed my deck of playing cards and asked my little sisters if they wanted to play some card games, and they agreed.

Before playing, my sisters admitted they didn’t know any card games, so I decided to teach them some. It was very humorous trying to teach little kids to play games because they often forgot numerous times what each card did, to the point that I wanted to draw them a detailed diagram about each card.

Eventually, they got the hang of it, and we started to really enjoy ourselves. We always like to poke fun at one another when someone makes a move that completely sabotages the other. When we were playing a game (that I am going to call sugarhead because its actual name is a swear word), I remember playing an ace, the highest value card, and the oldest couldn’t beat it so she had to pick up a 20-card pile. She was not happy, but the others and I couldn’t stop laughing because she swore she was going to win — Don’t you just love karma?

It was one of the most entertaining and funny nights of the week and we hope to do it more often. This was one of those genuine quality bonding moments that I’ve never really experienced with my sisters. This gave me hope that we can all get over these seemingly miserable times if we just find and explore the good things in life.

April 14, 2020 // Two weeks into quarantine and the boredom is once again creeping up on me. I went over a list of options in my head to waste time. I thought about starting a new hobby or watching reruns of my favorite childhood shows. Eventually, my sister gave me the opportunity to do something else. She wanted help with her homework, a mix of packets and online assignments. Being bored as I was, I completely obliged.

I never really helped my sisters with their homework in the past, for the most part, because they never asked so I just assumed they didn’t need any help. I’ve also never paid attention to what they were learning in school. As far as I knew, they could have been learning quantum physics and I would have never guessed.

Luckily for me, my sister wasn’t learning quantum physics so I sat on the bed with her stack of papers all scattered and started working through each individual problem. They were simple questions for the most part since I was four grade levels above the material, but I knew my sister may not understand so I made sure to always ask “Why/How do you know?” at the end of each problem.

If you know any middle schoolers, you always get the same reaction when you ask that question. They just think it’s a torture mechanism intended to trick them, and so you always get the “I don’t know” or “Because…” as the response. So each time either of these was an answer, I made sure to explain the topic.

I never expected to enjoy helping my sister as much as I did. We made jokes in between questions, played guessing games and we even made a snack after a job well done. In addition, I also got to see how bright my little sister is. She’s a smart cookie even though all I ever see her do is fool around with her other sisters.

Hopefully, in the near future, she asks me to help more often; I really enjoyed getting to bond and learn together.

Teacher Perspective: Mike Berger

Photo by Max Strainchamps

Mike Berger

Mike is a Computer Programming and Web Development Teacher at Madison Park Technical Vocational High School in Boston. He’s been working with a WriteBoston instructional coach during the school shutdown.

“Maslow is correct: until our students have food, shelter and feel safe, they cannot learn. Only once they feel safe and relatively comfortable can they begin to tackle content.”

What has been the largest challenge of pivoting to a virtual classroom?

Pivoting to an online classroom has been the hardest teaching issue I have faced because I do not get any kind of feedback from students (because I can’t see them), nor can I encourage, prompt, cajole or ask students, except when they are online with me. Without feedback, I don’t know engagement, comprehension, interest, confusion, etc. This puts the total burden on the students to communicate everything.

I will take back to my classroom the joy of actually knowing what my students are thinking, feeling and doing. I will emphasize self-advocacy, communication, and independent learning skills. I thought these were important skills before the quarantine; now I realize these are THE critical skills teens need to learn.

How has your WriteBoston coach been supporting you during the school closure?

My WriteBoston coach, Kelly Knopf-Goldner, has been an amazing mentor throughout my teaching experience. She has encouraged rigor, quality and scaffolding. The first question out of her mouth is always “What is your goal?”

As we switched to online-learning, she emphasized that same thinking. We jointly came to understand that Maslow is correct: until our students have food, shelter and feel safe, they cannot learn. Our first goal must be to make them feel safe and supported. Only once they feel safe and relatively comfortable can they begin to tackle content.

One thing Kelly helped me put together was a set of learning criteria I would try to measure as the students work online. We hope to measure these attributes to see what actually works and to change my curriculum to fit my student’s needs.

The other amazing thing Kelly did for me was gather and distill the wisdom of other teachers she works with and expert teaching advice from around the country. One of the most important things she told me was that I was not alone: All teachers are having problems with students’ lack of engagement and feedback. Her reassurance allowed me to step back, breathe, and look at the bigger picture.

I don’t have enough space (or time) to say all the good things I want to say about WriteBoston and Kelly. Without them I would be foundering and so would my students.

I’m worried about how the virus could affect my family

By Daniel Merchan

Daniel is a Staff Writer for Teens in Print and a 9th Grader at Boston College High School.

“Although my family is experiencing fear and panic, we have found strength and comfort in each other through prayer and laughter.”

April 14, 2020 // COVID-19 has caused a worldwide panic making everyone fear the virus. To start I see this on the internet and through my parents constantly telling me to wash my hands. Their panic is also very contagious to my little sister and me, though we usually take what happens in the news with a grain of salt. The caution my parents have in washing hands and social distancing causes me to worry along with them. This panic over death changed our mindset and emotions.

So far, nearly my whole family has been able to maintain self-quarantine, with my sister and I taking online classes and my dad working from home. However, this is not the case with my mom, who still works outside of our home as a house cleaner. This causes me and my family to worry about my mother because she could catch the virus much easier than the rest of us. Moreover, if she were to have the virus and came home with it, my family could catch it along with my mother. Thankfully, that has not been the case, yet it still makes me worry about the safety of my family.

My family also fears for the safety of my father. He is the main person who pays the bills, mortgage, and other necessities. I’m afraid that if he catches the virus, my family will have to find other ways to pay for the necessities he was paying in the first place.

I’m also afraid of the virus taking away my grandparents because of their older age and how the virus can easily get into contact with older people. The fact that death could be close to anyone of my family members does not bring ease, especially since all we can do is wash our hands, distance ourselves from society and hope that no one will contract the virus.

Although my family is experiencing fear and panic caused by the circumstances, we have found strength and comfort in each other through prayer and laughter. My family and I pray for not only our own safety but also the safety of other families who may be in a worse position than I am. I pray to God that other families who may be dealing with financial issues due to the virus find a way to overcome that obstacle along with the families who have lost loved ones to the virus. I pray that everyone stays safe and healthy.

Quaran-teenage angst: The ballad of Jacob Downey

By Jacob Downey

Jacob is an Editor for Teens in Print and a senior at Boston Arts Academy. Read Jacob’s full archive of TiP articles here and listen to the student-produced podcast here.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m uber excited for my post-apocalyptic biker gang — theme pending — but the uncertainty and commotion is scary.”

March 28, 2020 // On a drab Monday morning, I, already fed up with my lukewarm McDonald’s sandwich, entered school to be herded into a room of no more than 20-odd people — half of whom were typical jaded high school students, and the other half doing Tik-Tok dances.

It was after an hour or so that they explained, “We’re shutting down the schools to flatten the curve of the COVID-19 virus.”

Wow, I get to not be around all these people AND graduate from the comfort of my Charlie Brown-sheeted bed!? How could I refuse? Well 10 days in, I’m here having watched almost all of “Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure,” won two campaigns of Empire at War and done a fair bit of reading, granted intermittent breaks to gaze into the void and debate my own mortality.

And as much as one is to gaze into the void, so does the void gaze back into you. So, if I am to break the shroud I’ve built of these past few years as a relatively-chill-if-not-cynical-intellectual-type, he said most definitely tooting his own horn, I’m so miserable these days.

As someone whose headspace isn’t particularly ideal on the best of days, being locked up in my room with the apocalypse on the horizon hasn’t been my idea of a good time.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m uber excited for my post-apocalyptic biker gang — theme pending — but the uncertainty and commotion is scary. I’ve found it hard to sleep most nights, my mind racing between questions like how will the economy fare in a post-COVID-19 world? How am I even going to graduate without going to school for at least another month? Was it really a good idea to text my ex? While I can only answer the last question with a resounding no, no, it wasn’t, I’m doing my best to keep myself okay. It’s easier said than done, but I’m managing best I can. I’m taking it one day at a time, trying to stay productive, I even considered exercising! Which is the first step to actually exercising, so, boom! Product-heckin’-tivity!

While I fight my urge to overshare with the unsuspecting public the details of my descent into insanity, I urge you to take care of each other in these times of isolation. The only thing keeping me going is the support system provided by my boys. Check-in on your friends, make sure they’re doing okay, and we’ll all get through this no more freaked than before.

Self-Quarantine has created time for building new habits

By Bethany Soto-Gomez

Bethany is a Staff Writer for Teens in Print and student at MATCH Charter Public School. Read more of Bethany’s work for TiP here.

“The isolation has given everyone time to think. For many, it has not been good for them. But, I think that for a lot of us, this time was much needed.”

March 28, 2020 // Self-quarantine. Isolation. The current state that the entire world is facing right now has caused many changes. We are going through a global pandemic. People have been on lockdown in their own homes. On top of that people are going into panic mode. People are dying every day.

Places like Italy have been on lockdown for longer. They’ve made this time more enjoyable with live bands playing outside the windows and balconies, but through all this, I feel like we are all taking the situation seriously. However, the panic that people feel, which is understandable, is not helping anything.

Self-quarantine, although scary, is the only thing we can do to prevent the spread. If you stay home you won’t be helping in the spread, and you won’t get it. Although it’s not as easy as it sounds, because of the necessities of grocery shopping, quarantine itself is the safest we can be from this virus.

I have been given three weeks of self-quarantine from school. Even my city is going on lockdown, which for me is much scarier. Boston has shut down all the stores and public gatherings to keep social distance. All the decisions that are being made seem to have been very sudden and last minute. I only found out that school was closing on the last day before it closed. All of these quick decisions really play into putting people into panic mode.

Kids everywhere saw this as a vacation. We all thought we would be able to go to each other’s houses and go out every day like you would on other vacations. But, when the streams of online work began we were definitely in for a surprise.

Now, kids everywhere are spending a lot of these days on school, and the rest of it is stuck in the house forced to social distance. Even the weekends are dreaded. The weekdays and weekends feel the same now.

The isolation has given everyone time to think. For many, it has not been good for them, as the average human needs to socially interact with others often. But, I think that for a lot of us, this time was much needed. For me, I don’t feel like I need to socialize often. I’ve gotten a lot of social anxiety from the smallest things ever since I was little. Even during lunch, I’ve completely stopped going into the cafeteria at all unless I’m forced to go.

Recently, I’ve received some medical news that has required me to make a serious lifestyle change that I was just not ready for. I did not have the motivation for myself to start. But this isolation has given me the time I needed to start, and it has given me plenty of time to focus on my health.

The things you see on the news and on social media can make you feel nothing but fear, but seeing the good can sometimes be the only thing that makes you feel sane through the panic.

How social distancing has lowered anxiety for some students

By Bendu David

Bendu is a Staff Writer for Teens in Print and a senior at Boston Latin Academy. Read more of Bendu’s work for TiP here.

“I stopped going to school days before the official announcement of closure was announced, with concern for my mother at the forefront of my mind.”

March 28, 2020 // After the number of cases of COVID-19 in Massachusetts doubled overnight on March 10th, the number of cases in Boston went from zero to 19, I grew increasingly concerned about what this meant for myself and my family. I paid close attention to the news and to articles covering the coronavirus to make sure I was up to date with everything going on. Boston schools were still open, and I was still going to work at this time.

Then the number of cases doubled again. I began watching the news more closely as cases in other states soared and it quickly became clear that we were not safe from this disease.

I stopped going to school days before the official announcement of closure was announced, with concern for my mother at the forefront of my mind. After learning that the disease targeted those with pre-existing health conditions and compromised immune systems and that young people can be carriers of the disease themselves, I spoke to her about staying home for her own safety.

My quarantine time has been longer than others, and in this time I have not only been left with figuring out how to best manage my time and my days, but I have been able to see just how this time home is affecting my mental health.

Though personally, this doesn’t come as a surprise, my anxiety has decreased tremendously as I’m no longer running on 10+ hour days from school to work and then home again, on less than five hours of sleep. However, I have found that with my lack of a proper sleep schedule, I haven’t been feeling as great as I could.

I have also decided that I am using this time to do things and accomplish goals I hadn’t had the time to do while in school, and I am practicing new ways to manage my time. Our five weeks of time in quarantine has now become six weeks, and that’s a long time. Two goals I have had for a long time now are to learn how to play the ukulele and to begin writing a short story from an idea I’ve had. On my fourth day or so of being home, I decided on a whim to pick up my instrument and finally learn how to play it, and as of last Friday, I’ve started my short story.

With all this time, especially for those who are not leaving their homes unless they absolutely have to, I think it’s really important to make use of this newfound time outside of online learning and school work.

I’m not going into work at Hyde Square anymore so I have been slacking on dancing and stretching every day, but I have made myself two schedules to follow to the best of my ability for this time we have a home.

I have had to figure out ways to not fall into a pit of sadness because my mind and body are so used to having multiple things to do a day, so I find when I’m not doing much one day, I beat myself up for it and become really sad. And it doesn’t help that right now there is a lot to be sad about. This quarantine time has exposed to me important lessons as well, about time, health and family and friends.

Distractions and distance can result in missed learning opportunities

By Hasina Whittaker

Hasina is a Staff Writer for Teens in Print and an 8th grader at the John D. O’Bryant School of Mathematics and Science in Boston. Read more of Hasina’s work for TiP here.

“It is so much easier to work with a teacher in person instead of going online and watching videos . . . I kind of miss talking to my teachers as they would guide me through my work.”

March 28, 2020 // Ever since schools in Boston closed down because of COVID-19, everything seems different. Yeah, it’s a break from going to school and waking up as early as 5 a.m., but there is something missing.

I’m not going to lie, when I saw that schools were going to be closed I was excited. Then after the first four days of not being in school, the fun slowed down and a dull, empty feeling kicked in.

During this time I could be lounging around and working whenever I want but something isn’t right. Its people. I miss their company and I miss talking to them. While I don’t talk to a lot of people in school, staying inside all of the time and not talking in person is becoming a pain.

Most of my friends agree that staying inside for a long period of time can get boring. With that being said, I have come to my conclusion: I took school for granted. I like talking to my friends and having fun at school, but schools shutting down has taken my social life away from me!

What I also took for granted was the one-on-one time available in the classroom. It is so much easier to work with a teacher in person instead of going online and watching videos that are accompanied by assignments and due dates. I kind of miss talking to my teachers as they would guide me through my work, and they’re literally the people that I talk to every day.

When I’m at home I get easily distracted by my phone and it doesn’t help that there is nowhere quiet enough for me to focus on all of my classwork. I also have to take care and keep track of my little sister while we are home, and people with siblings know how hard and tiring that can be. This causes me to miss Zoom meetings and miss out on learning opportunities in general. It all comes together to create this downward spiral. All-in-all I took traditional school for granted.

Preparing for COVID-19 with high-risk family members

By David Santana

David is a Staff Writer for Teens in Print and a freshman at the Boston Latin School. Read more of David’s work for TiP here.

“Even though my dad does all the necessary precautions, such as wearing a mask and gloves, it worries me how every day he is put at risk by going to work.”

March 28, 2020 // Considering the month-long closing of Boston Public Schools, this past week has given me a lot to get used to. There are no live classes, so I’ve had to teach myself the content through textbooks. It’s been going well so far, but I don’t feel too confident about the new material. It’s hard to grasp new concepts without a teacher or someone explaining it to me but so far, Khan Academy has been my best friend. I’m scared though, as we have weekly assessments every Friday.

Regardless, that isn’t the worst thing that has been affecting my personal life ever since the pandemic started. My parents are my biggest concern; COVID-19 affects older people more, as the immune system in the human body gets worse as we age. COVID-19 also affects the respiratory system. The highest-risk person in my family is my dad, as he is the oldest and he smokes. This is sad because he is still being forced to work through all of this. Even though he does all the necessary precautions, such as wearing a mask and gloves, the risk is always there. It worries me how every day he is put at risk by going to work.

My parents have been super paranoid, and I haven’t been able to go over to my friends’ house or do something as simple as going for a walk. COVID-19 is very serious, and sometimes it’s scary to think that symptoms might not show for 11–12 days. I’ve been using all of this extra time to study more on past material, as well as catching up with a lot of shows I haven’t seen yet. I’ve also been trying to get rid of bad habits, such as sleeping in, staying awake for too long, over-eating, etc.

Overall, the coronavirus has been very new to me, as I’m sure it is to you as well. Try to get used to it, as it’ll all be over sometime. Always remember to stay safe, wash your hands, use gloves when going outside and stay inside if you feel sick.

Stacey Sirois

Stacey is the Commonwealth Corps Program Manager for the Massachusetts Service Alliance. For the past few years, the Commonwealth Corps has partnered with WriteBoston to support two service members, who have joined our Teens in Print program and helped us reach more students.

How did you get involved with WriteBoston? WriteBoston applied as a Commonwealth Corps host site in 2018, and has been a host site partner for two years. WriteBoston hosts 2 full-time Commonwealth Corps members in the Teens in Print program who serve as Youth Program Associates, deepening the program’s college and career readiness services and supporting student writing growth in Boston. Through our partnership, our members are provided with a meaningful service experience and the TiP staff benefit from being a part of the larger Commonwealth Corps community of nonprofits across Massachusetts.

What’s most unique about WriteBoston? Our Commonwealth Corps members at WriteBoston have been able to serve directly with students in the Boston Public Schools while thinking more broadly about how they can support students’ college and career readiness. They have developed creative programming that keeps students engaged and excited about learning.

Why is it important to support this work? Through their service at WriteBoston, our Commonwealth Corps members will impact approximately 150 under-resourced Boston students by providing individualized writing support and wrap-around services that target college and career readiness skills. In addition, they will leverage 25 volunteers that will support students’ writing and thinking skills through mentoring relationships centered around reading, writing, and career and college exploration. This is an incredible impact of which we are proud to be a part.

Cynthia Mohr

Cynthia is one of WriteBoston’s most dedicated, long-term supporters and a fierce advocate for students’ educational opportunities.

How did you get involved with WriteBoston? My involvement with WriteBoston, spanning more than a decade and a half, dates back to a chance encounter with a former board member who invited me to WriteBoston’s annual benefit, Pros&Conversation. At this gathering, I was impressed to learn that WriteBoston not only has developed programs for mastering writing, but is also reaching out to classroom teachers across Greater Boston, working with them on educating teen students coming from challenging and diverse backgrounds on the art of writing well.

Having been the first in my Lebanese immigrant family to attend college, I know firsthand how my ability to read well and write skillfully has made all the difference in giving me access to a world I would never have known: a world filled with possibilities, adventure and enrichment. This is the world we all desire for our own children and should be the world we want for every child. WriteBoston gives that opportunity to Boston’s underserved children and because I believe their voices must be heard and their futures made more secure, I fiercely and passionately support WriteBoston.

What’s most unique about WriteBoston? There is no doubt that skillful, articulate writing impacts the success of any student. Without that skill, students have little chance of advancement. Through teaching effective writing skills, WriteBoston is changing the course and future of these young people.

Why is it important to support this work? These days my hope is coming from the socially conscious, politically active, determined young people demanding change. Their cries for a more just and safe nation are the cries we hear from our teens, too. WriteBoston, thankfully, is giving these young students the tools to think critically and write effectively so their voices can be heard loud and clearly.

Brian Heffron

Brian, EVP and Partner at CTP, has supported WriteBoston in a number of ways, including hosting career exploration days at the CTP workplace for teens, and producing an organizational video for WriteBoston.

How did you get involved with WriteBoston? I was invited to WriteBoston’s Pros&Conversation annual event in 2017 and I was blown away by the mission of the organization, the leadership, and the level of work these young people were producing. So I looked for an opportunity to get involved. As a former journalist and a communications professional I appreciate the talent and the drive of the students. So for the past two summers we’ve had groups of young people from WriteBoston spend the day at our marketing agency CTP (@CTPBoston), to shadow our teams and learn how they one day could apply the communications skills they’re developing to a profession like ours.

What’s most unique about WriteBoston? WriteBoston is unique because of its approach to helping students become brilliant communicators by letting them practice real journalism.

Why is it important to support this work? Learning how to communicate with clarity and imagination will shape the lives of young people academically and professionally. But it will also help them shape society.

Michelle Hower

Michelle is a special education teacher for 7th and 8th grade English Language Arts and Math at McKinley South End Academy. She’s worked with a WriteBoston coach for the past few years to incorporate high-quality literacy practices into her classroom.

How did you get involved with WriteBoston? We are in our second year of partnership with WriteBoston. I was first introduced to the program through my literacy coach, with whom other educators at my school and I meet weekly with for professional development. WriteBoston has become a staple at these meetings. Our WriteBoston coach conducted audits at the beginning of the year and observed the amount of reading, writing, and discussing that occurred during a class period. We then used and continue to use this data in a number of ways including to reflect on what we’re doing well, areas in which we can improve, and, most importantly, how we can serve our students in the most productive ways possible. Our coach has provided tools, lesson plans, and write-to-think strategies that have rejuvenated our goals as educators and our students’ progress as writers.

What’s most unique about WriteBoston? What is most unique about WriteBoston is the attentiveness and genuine care and interest of our coach, Liz. It is clear that Liz doesn’t just see this role as a job that needs to get done, but as an investment that is worth every ounce of effort. I meet weekly with Liz one-on-one and what strikes me the most is that after every meeting or observation she always shares her thoughts. If it was a meeting she will reiterate what I said, validate my concerns, and work on ideas and solutions to my questions. If it was an observation, she highlights what impressed her, commends my efforts when challenges arise, and is ready with questions about why I chose a certain approach or if I have ever tried this tool, etc. The simple feeling of being heard is a powerful one. [My WriteBoston coach] has helped my confidence as a teacher so much. I am in my second full year of teaching so it is easy to become overwhelmed, but Liz has been there for me week after week with her positive reassurance.

Why is it important to support this work? It takes confidence to lead a group of young minds. Not only has WriteBoston given me a foundation of tools and resources, but, most importantly, the confidence I need to maximize those resources.

Pamela Rose, MSN RN

Pamela is a Medical Assistant Instructor at Madison Park Technical Vocational High School. She’s worked with a WriteBoston coach for the past year to incorporate literacy practices into her classroom.

How did you get involved with WriteBoston? I have been teaching nursing instruction for the better part of 30 years. I hold a Masters in Nursing Education and the majority of my teaching experience has been with young and middle aged adults. That being said, I thoroughly enjoy the population of students at Madison Park, and I have always been a fan of pedagogy in my adult classroom. My first exposure to the WriteBoston curriculum was my first week of employment. I was fortunate to have been assigned to professional development classes with Kelly [a WriteBoston coach]. Incorporating literacy into every lesson plan was not easy at first and I struggled initially. I’m a vocational teacher, not an English teacher, right? Boy, was I wrong. Today I am totally invested in the literacy strategies and I include multiple strategies into one lesson. My lesson plans are tailored to my population of students. I see the results in the students’ faces when they are engaged and ready to learn.

What’s most unique about WriteBoston? WriteBoston has provided me a whole new approach to teaching vocational content and literacy at the same time. I call that a win-win! WriteBoston has allowed me to teach reading in more creative and effective ways. My students are more engaged and actively communicating and learning from each other. [The WriteBoston strategy] enables my students to actively connect in text and enjoy literacy.

Why is it important to support this work? It is important for educators to assess and continually re-assess learning. The whole WriteBoston theory of teaching literacy is so important for the population of learners that I currently have. Some of my students are [English Learners] or just have poor reading and writing skills in general. Being aware of the class language proficiency levels and learning styles helps me to create and modify lesson plans that contain the important speaking, writing, reading and language skills.

In summation: I am a true believer of WriteBoston’s [work] and I have witnessed students’ positive growth in literacy with the strategies recommended by WriteBoston. Support is needed by all educators to ensure that our students have the tools they need to succeed and understand language with proficiency.

Michael Titus

Michael is an assistant principal at Collins Middle School in Salem. He’s working with a WriteBoston coach to engage eight grade students in authentic discussions around complex texts.

How did you get involved with WriteBoston? [At Collins Middle School], we were looking to push some of our veteran staff. We wanted and needed to increase student ownership of the learning and WriteBoston has people with the experience to get us to move our instruction to the next level.

What’s most unique about WriteBoston? I like the fact that it’s an additional resource to go above and beyond what our school priorities are and can tier the professional learning that’s taking place in the building.

Why is it important to support this work? Because school resources are tight, often veteran teachers don’t get the professional learning they need in order to continue improving their practice. Having the additional support [from WriteBoston] allows us to do that. We need our literacy coach to be doing things like running data, helping new teachers, and in general getting everybody aligned and running. The WriteBoston coach is able to differentiate and work with veteran staff in a way they will not otherwise get.

Michaelle Mota

Michaelle is a staff writer for the Teens in Print student newspaper and a freshman at Boston Arts Academy.

How did you get involved with WriteBoston? I got involved with Teens in Print ever since Carla [TiP’s Program Director] came to my school to talk about this opportunity . . . I soon officially joined. Now I write articles for my enjoyment.

What’s most unique about WriteBoston and Teens in Print? The most unique part about WriteBoston would be our relationship with each other and how TiP prepares us for scholarly writing and resume building.

Why is it important to support this work? I feel it is important to support this work because there are others who are passionate about writing. Not many people have the opportunity to let their voice be heard, speak for themselves and share their ideas. It’s also a great way to productively do something with your time. It helps youngsters with dreams of becoming a journalist in the future and gives us a higher chance of being accepted into colleges/universities. Overall, I feel TiP sets the perfect example for students and offers LOTS of opportunities, networking skills, just the basic needs of survival in the outside world.

Clinton Nguyen

Clinton is an alum of the Teens in Print program. He wrote for the paper before graduating high school in 2018. Clinton is now a sophomore at The University of Massachusetts Amherst.

How did you get involved with WriteBoston? I got involved with WriteBoston my sophomore year of high school through their Teens in Print and Summer Journalism Institute program. I am involved today by keeping in touch with previous mentors such as the program coordinator, Carla Gualdron, who will always keep a place in my heart. She has inspired me to major in journalism and hopefully one day I will come back and share my knowledge with aspiring journalists of the program.

What’s most unique about WriteBoston and Teens in Print? Teens in Print is the only free program that allows youth to write for a city-wide print newspaper and cultivate their knowledge in the field of journalism.

Why is it important to support this work? Journalism is not appreciated enough, especially when some deem it the “enemy of the people.” WriteBoston shows the importance of the press and gives skills that are transferable to virtually any job.

Elebetel Assefa

Elebetel is an alum of the Teens in Print program. She wrote for the paper before graduating high school in 2018. Elebetel is now a sophomore at Tufts University studying African History and Philosophy.

How did you get involved with WriteBoston? My high school had a Writers Room that I used to go to during classes and after school. One of these days, Teens in Print was having their weekly meeting so I decided to join them (they also had food). After I started writing for the publication about literally anything and everything I was passionate about, there was no limit. I spent a lot of time in the Writers Room with my best friends and we had a lot of heated discussions about current events. Now, when WriteBoston is having an event and/or reaches out to alumni for support, I do my best to give back and be a part of the growing community.

What’s most unique about WriteBoston and Teens in Print? For me, it is the fact as a writer you have no limits on what issues you can cover and even how you go on about it. In fact, WriteBoston connects you with people who have years of experience and are able to better guide you in the process of covering a story.

Why is it important to support this work? As a result of my time as a TiPster [Teens in Print reporter], I have gained valuable and useful skills as both a writer and a reader. I recognize the value of a person’s voice, story, and seek out people’s agency in seemingly desperate situations. I am very grateful for all the opportunities WriteBoston and TiP have given me and look forward to the work they will do in the future.

Derrick Z. Jackson

Derrick is a WriteBoston Board Member, photographer, and career journalist who wrote for The Boston Globe. Derrick shares his writing and photography skills with budding young journalists in the Teens in Print program.

How did you get involved with WriteBoston? I was invited by my Boston Globe colleague Bob Turner to join the board. I remain on the board, and mentor Teens in Print youth journalists when appropriate.

What’s most unique about WriteBoston? It is as close as I can imagine to the Model Cities after-school youth writing and journalism program I benefited from in Milwaukee in the early 1970s.

Why is it important to support this work? The pen is mightier than the sword and we need inquisitive, literate, and eloquent urban youth of color, and youth from difficult backgrounds to be equipped to force America to confront on the negative side its differences, disparities, discrimination and disenfranchisement, and on the positive side, provide an inspiring look into their culture, vision and hopes for making this city, country and world a better place than what we’re leaving them.

David Russell

David is an English Language Arts Teacher at McKinley South End Academy, a Boston public school providing special education to students with emotional and behavioral needs. David has worked with a WriteBoston coach for the past few years to incorporate literacy practices into his classroom.

How did you get involved with WriteBoston? WriteBoston has been providing coaching for the English teachers such as myself at my school, McKinley South End Academy, for a few years. I attend weekly meetings with our consultant, Liz Leidel, and she observes my class most weeks. We also often meet before and/or after to discuss the observation.

What’s most unique about WriteBoston? Professional development meetings, consultation, and observation are often not stimulating or useful. WriteBoston’s are. My teaching, 33 years in, is being improved as a result of working with Liz, my WriteBoston coach.

Why is it important to support this work? There is much debate about how to improve teaching, but this is not open for debate: WriteBoston makes a tangible contribution to the enhancement of our skills.

Cristian Dubon Solis

Cristian is a staff writer for the Teens in Print student newspaper and a senior at John D. O’Bryant High School.

How did you get involved with WriteBoston? I was invited to attend a [Teens in Print] session near the end of my sophomore year by someone who works with Teens in Print, and she encouraged me to join since she thought it would be a good fit for me. I was hesitant at first, but I did attend, and after hearing all the cool and amazing things the [TiP students] have done and have written about, I was immediately hooked and decided to join the following year. I am now an affiliated staff writer with Teens in Print, writing articles about issues I feel are important and need to be addressed. I will hopefully be involved with TiP in future endeavors because it truly is an amazing program.

What’s most unique about WriteBoston and Teens in Print? Teens in Print is accepting of different ways of thinking. I feel like I can write an article that challenges most people’s views and everyone would be respectful of my opinions, which is so rad.

Why is it important to support this work? Today, most people overlook the opinions of the younger generations, claiming we’re “too young.” Teens in Print changes that by giving us young people a way to voice our thoughts.

Eddie Conley

Eddie is a staff writer for the Teens in Print student newspaper and senior at The Roxbury Latin School.

How did you get involved with WriteBoston? I was a junior in high school and I needed a job. My sister had been working through the City of Boston’s SuccessLink during her summers so I figured I would do that too. As I began my search I was plagued with camp counselor jobs, clean up jobs, and all the other bland, cliché, and typical jobs everyone else had. Before I bit the bullet to become a camp counselor I stumbled upon something called “WriteBoston,” another job listed on the site. It intrigued me so I did some digging to satisfy my curiosity because I didn’t want to sign up for anything I would regret. After my interview I realized I would actually have the chance to grow and mature while I worked on my writing skills. SJI turned out to be a great experience I would do twenty times over before I became a run-of-the-mill high school camp counselor. Today I’m a Staff Writer and I would like to be more involved if my school’s schedule would not be so packed and complex.

What’s most unique about WriteBoston and Teens in Print? When I joined WriteBoston I realized the work the staff does for us goes far beyond journalism. Yes, we are training our journalism skills but we are also being taught how to be productive adults.

Why is it important to support this work? The work we do at Teens in Print is multifaceted; we are working to become journalists but through that work we build a network, we mature, and we prepare to face the real world with the right tools.