We received the following letter from Candace Brown, a 10th grade teacher in southern Taiwan:
I’ve got a story for how you are continuing your movement across the world.
I was a student at the University of Arkansas when I saw the Prison Story Project perform (On The Row) a few years ago. Dr. David Jolliffe had told Dr. Sean Conners about the project and the word spread. I still remember that night as one of the most challenging and moving nights of my memory.
Today, I teach 10th grade English, 10th grade Bible, and Advanced Writing elective at an international Christian school in southern Taiwan. I’m in the middle of Oliver Twist with my 10th grade English class.
I offered an assignment that guides students to see similarities in social justice strategies between Charles Dickens’ writing style and a modern-day movement. I gave them a list of options for their modern-day movement, one of which was anti-death penalty.
In the assignment, students have to recognize the best strategy they see from both Oliver Twist and the movement they chose. One of my students chose anti-death penalty even though they themselves agree with the death penalty.
I offered up the Prison Story Project to them as a source for their assignment; not only did the poems and pieces move the student emotionally, but also the student is rethinking their stance on the death penalty entirely! They’re still in the process of writing for their assignment, so I’m waiting to read it anxiously.
I hope you take this email as encouragement that even in an international school on the other side of the world, the stories of the men and women are getting heard.
All the Best,
Candace Brown