TWYH - pg. 177-227

Abstract:
This section of the book starts out during the later half of the students' senior year. Tensions were rising with the students because among the Freedom Writers, certain students were being singled out and getting more attention. During this same time, they won the Spirit of Anne Frank Award where only 45 students could go to New York City to accept the award. This also caused more tension between Erin and the other teachers, because yet again she was going across the country with her students and being recognized. Erin also had a Primetime Live segment on her and her class air on TV, which got a lot of attention outside the school.

After graduation, Erin decided to take a job at California State University. She still continued to see her students and decided to take about 50 of them on a trip to Europe. They weren't able to raise all the money, so Erin again went to John Tu for financial help. And yet again he gave her money, this time it was $250,000. These aren't even her students anymore, and she's still spending so much time with them and doing things for them. After the trip, Erin was still promoting the book and was on different shows like Rosie O'Donnell and Oprah. And apparently she didn't think she was busy enough, because she decided to run for Congress. This caught me completely off guard, I had no idea she was even interested in politics. The Freedom Writers helped her campaign, but in actuality they might have lost it for her. Erin was juggling both her campaign and her students, and her students were her top priority.

Reflection:
I was kind of disappointed in Erin for leaving Wilson High. I felt like she did it because of her students, they weren't going to be there next year and she didn't want to start a school year without them. She said in the book that she wanted them to "spread their wings and leave the coop" and I thought for a moment that she was going to let them go on their own, but nope. Erin thinks of her students as family at this point. I mean she organized a 19 day trip to Europe for 50 students! It cost over $250,000! And then when she decided to run for Congress I thought she was trying to do something else besides hanging out with her students. Even though I was surprised she decided to run for Congress, at least it didn't have to do with her students or teaching. It's hard for Erin to relax and not do anything because she's been a workaholic for like 5 years now. But she didn't give up her students, instead she encouraged them to help her in her campaign. While I was reading, it didn't seem to me that Erin even wanted to campaign and she was unhappy doing it. She didn't want to help raise money because she didn't want to ask people for money, which made no sense to me because she asked for money all the time when she was a teacher. And she didn't want to put people down, but she used to put down all the other teachers that she worked with. I'm glad that she lost the election because it didn't seem that she was passionate about it. She's obviously passionate about her students, she just needs to be passionate about teaching her current college students.