Write In: High School Field Trips Offer Inspiration at the AWM by Georgia B. and Alexis R.
Georgia, Alexis, and their classmates visited the AWM as part of our high school field trips programming in November, and participated in the Write In program for middle and high school students. Write In combines the unique experience of a museum visit with specially-designed curricula that aims to increase students’ knowledge about American writers as well as boost their confidence as writers. Since the museum opened in May, we have welcomed more than 2,700 students from throughout Chicagoland. If you are a teacher interested in middle or high school field trips for your school (or a student interested in sharing this opportunity with a teacher), you can learn more here.Â
The American Writers Museum is truly a spectacle for all who visit. To have the opportunity to access information on the some of the greatest writers of our nation is priceless. My name is Georgia Becker and I am a student at Proviso Math and Science Academy. I had the pleasure of visiting the museum with my AP English class this past fall. To say I was inspired is an understatement. Before this year, I had failed to really recognize the art of words. Thanks to my wonderful teacher who brought my class to AWM, I think it is safe to say that I’m learning very quickly. For me, writing used to be simply a way to communicate thoughts and stories, but after visiting AWM, I saw that it was so much more.
For me, writing used to be simply a way to communicate thoughts and stories, but after visiting AWM, I saw that it was so much more.
Many of the authors that I learned about not only openly expressed their thoughts, but helped change the social constructs of their generations as well. If not for their groundbreaking works, I very well may not be who I am today. Being able to see how much influence they had inspired me more than anything. I began to see myself as someone who had the power to change things through my words. Writing has become so much more important to me than ever before, and because of my visit to AWM and my brilliant teacher’s encouragement, I have begun to chase my dreams of becoming a writer. I look up to Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald and can only hope to be like Harper Lee or Zora Neale Hurston. Their incredible influence has surpassed time and circumstance, still being relevant today. And that, more than anything, is inspirational.
– Georgia Becker, ‘19
Proviso Math and Science Academy
Being at the museum opened my eyes to new experiences and ideas, and inspired me to never allow my surroundings to keep me from doing what is most valuable to me.
When I visited the area of the American Writers Museum where many authors, known and unknown to me, were hung and read through some of their greatest pieces, I was intrigued by their accomplishments. Some of the authors grew up during times of struggle and oppression, but they did not allow it to keep them from doing what they loved and in some cases, were even influenced by those hardships to write the stories they wrote. Being at the museum opened my eyes to new experiences and ideas, and inspired me to never allow my surroundings to keep me from doing what is most valuable to me.
– Alexis R., ’19
Proviso Math and Science Academy
Write In is supported by the Elizabeth Morse Charitable Trust and the Combe Family.