SOAR’s Writing for Healing Workshops for young women participating in alternative education programs are given strategies to debunk myths around writing and reading that have impacted their academic success. Introduced to SOAR’s writing training wheels, students learn the value of language and begin to see how language operates as a layered text through its construction i.e. the use of the poem or prose as a vehicle of expression. This series of workshops is a unique way for students to “claim their space” and to take responsibility for their words and to own their individual power. In this way, students learn how language releases personal blocks.

 

For students to feel safe, we call for collective responsibility for making the classroom circle a “safe space.” Students create their own “sisterhood pledge” composed of 10 guidelines for them to feel comfortable and supported in their sharing within their circle. A bond is formed because the students are not in competition with one another; they are there to support and to protect one another. Once the young women successfully complete the workshop series, their names are entered in the database as candidates for the My Daughter’s Power Circle Yearly Retreat.