It was a hot and sunny afternoon when students from Meek @Alliance High School gathered at Miss Zumstein Bakery and Coffee Shop in NE Portland for a WITS reading. These students were from Ms. Taramasso’s class and had spent the semester working with WITS writer Laura Moulton. As always, cafe owner Anya had put out sweet baked goods for students to munch on as they shared their pieces. Student work was mostly personal, but still ranged widely in tone and subject. The writers shared stories of gentrification of their neighborhood, wily cats, creating art, and how one-size-fits-all education systems don’t work for everyone. Teachers Ms. Taramasso and Mr. Ferguson both read student work, and WITS writer Laura Moulton shard an excerpt from a longer piece she has been working on through her project Street Books. Everyone’s work was fantastic, and we are excited that a couple of students are submitting work to the annual WITS anthology so we can share it widely!
