Writing Program Helps Students Learn to Lead and Go on to College

A nonprofit writing program in Lawrence, Mass., teaches young people in the beleaguered former mill town to tell their stories—and in the process inspires them to go to college and become leaders in the community.

The Andover Bread Loaf Writing Leaders program, a project of the Bread Loaf School of English at Middlebury College and Phillips Academy, in Andover, has been helping students find their voices for 27 years.

The workshops are run entirely by students who have already been through the program.

“The ‘writing leaders’ are the same age and come from the same community as the students they’re mentoring,” says Edwin Santana, who became an instructor in 2004.

The writing leaders attend a daylong training session and receive mentoring from public-school teachers.

Among the more than 600 students who have been part of the program, nearly all have completed college—an accomplishment in a struggling community like Lawrence, where almost half of all students drop out of high school. That sends a powerful message to students, says Mr. Santana: “‘They came from exactly where I came from. I can be as smart as they are. I can go to college.’”

Program alumni arrive at college armed with invaluable tools, says Lou Bernieri, executive director of Andover Bread Loaf and an English instructor at Phillips Academy. “They have a voice, they believe in their voice, and they’re comfortable in a world where literacy is the key to everything.”

Andover Bread Loaf’s $200,000 budget comes from foundations and a handful of individuals. That money pays for small stipends for mentors, occasional travel for students, and Mr. Bernieri’s part-time salary and benefits.

Many former students now have good jobs back in Lawrence, says Mr. Bernieri. “They’re in the schools as teachers and administrators. They’re running nonprofits and local businesses. They’re leading Lawrence.”

Frederico Pereyra is one example. He signed up for a writing workshop in fifth grade and says he never looked back. Today the 28-year-old is back in Lawrence teaching math at a middle school, coaching track, and mentoring young writers in the Andover Bread Loaf program.

Says Mr. Pereyra: “During my first three weeks in the program, something in my personality changed and led me down a path I never would have traveled.”