The first Lawrence Family Literacy Night of the 2015-2016 school year took place on Tuesday evening, September 29, at the Oliver Partnership School in Lawrence, coordinated by Bread Loaf teachers Yulissa Nunez and Richard Gorham. (The school is run through a partnership between the Lawrence Public School District and the American Federation of Teachers). There were 42 parents who signed in, an estimated 100 total attendees (80 family members plus 20 teachers). We did two prompts: “Thanks to” and a “Five Senses Favorite Place” poem, both presented in English and in Spanish. Sharing took 40 minutes and included 1st-5th graders plus parents, in both English and Spanish. In one case, an entire family—mom, dad, and three kids—attended, wrote, and shared. Many thanks to our hosts, especially to Lynn Garica, who advertised the event. We scheduled a second FLN at the Oliver for May 17.

Multicultural, multilingual, and multigenerational Family Literacy Nights are a staple of Andover Bread Loaf and BLTN Lawrence. (See Imagination, Idealism, and Compassion: Lawrence Family Literacy Nights). Recently, with assistance from the National Writing Project’s Educator Innovator initiative, the Andover Bread Loaf crew produced this video on orchestrating these evenings.