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The Adolescent Literacy Project, “Adolescent Readers and Writers: Responding to Texts about Life in an Urban Setting”, is a community writing project to help connect Syracuse University with the greater Syracuse community. The goal of this project is to create an authentic outlet for community writing by collecting and publishing rich texts (poems, narratives, art, and/or photography) about “Life and Education in an Urban Setting” with a special emphasis on Syracuse City School District (SCSD) middle and high school students.

Using Luis J. Rodríguez’s poetry, inspired by his life experience as a gang member in East L.A., professors in the School of Education’s Reading and Language Arts Center (Kristiina Montero Louise Wilkinson, Susan Hynds) and the College of Arts and Sciences’ Writing Program (Steve Parks), encouraged SCSD teachers to incorporate his poems, written in free verse, into English Language Arts (ELA) classes and have students write about their experiences in an urban setting. Teachers were supported through three workshops conducted by Dr.  Montero,  which attracted ELA teachers from area high schools and teachers from middle schools who, with enthusiasm, incorporated Rodríguez’s poetry into school curriculum. Students wrote poems supported by his themes and writing style. Many teachers reported that this project produced quality writing from typically disenfranchised students. This portion of the project reached nearly 1000 students. 

Rodríguez spent time visiting with students at four district high schools and talked about writing poems during his two-day visit. He listened to students read their poetry and encouraged them to continue writing. Students will continue to write and revise their writing for publication in a community anthology to be published by New City Community Press. Other sources of writing that will be considered for this anthology include responses to Rodríguez’s talk to 1000 middle school students at Hendricks Chapel on graffiti murals.  The working anthology title is “Soul Talk” reflecting a consistent theme throughout the poet’s talk to SCSD students. Rodríguez is writing the introduction to the book anticipated for distribution to SCSD schools in early fall for inclusion into the 2006-2007 school curriculum.