So on May 6, we had our event in the caf during tutorial. We had a great turnout and we appreciate everyone that came out to support us. For the event, we invited David (the cofounder and director of The Beat Within), Michael (the senior editor), Monica, and Chris to come speak. Monica and Chris were people who had been in incarcerated in their youth and had thus got involved with The Beat through their weekly writing workshops. They now both work with the organization editing and putting together the weekly publications. All the speakers had great insights to share with all of us about their experiences and stories. David talked about the goals of The Beat including giving youth in prison a voice and a way to express themselves to people who will listen. One of my favorite parts of the event was when Monica read the poems and writings by incarcerated youth. It was interesting to gain access to perspectives that are so far away from mine. Ava Benezra also talked about her experiences working with The Beat and encouraged anyone who was interested to get involved.
In the second half of the event Michael ran a writing workshop like the ones that occur in the juvenile hall. People had a chance to write on certain prompts or anything they wanted and then share with others. Getting a chance to hear beautiful, touching pieces written by my peers was also another highlight of the afternoon.
A little while after the event, we all went to the Parent Association meeting to speak to parents. This was a great opportunity to share what we had done and give them a taste of what the Philanthropy Initiative course is all about.
