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By Morgan Taylor – Editor-In-Chief

Jonathan Law High School recently hosted a live Skype interview with Jason Reynolds, a young adult author who is known for his books “All American Boys” and “Long Way Down”. His book “Long Way Down” takes place in an elevator and the story is supposed to take place within 60 seconds. It is all about the main character, Will, contemplating taking revenge for his brother, Shawn’s murder, while visited by ghosts of his past. “All American Boys” is a co-authored book that is a coming-of-age piece which showcases the harsh reality of police brutality. Advocate Editor-in-Chief Morgan Taylor talked with Law media specialist Ms. Briggs and English teacher Mrs. Branco, who co-organized the event:

Morgan Taylor: Why did you decide to showcase this author?

Mrs. Branco: We chose this author because both these books tied into the curriculum perfectly. The first Socratic Seminar we did was on “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Emmett Till and the Scottsboro Boys. This unit focuses on ethics/ethical behavior and prejudices that occurred during the time.  Jason Reynolds’ books focus on topics like gun violence and prejudices of today, so we felt it was a good way to open a discussion on the past and present day.

Morgan Taylor: How did you get in contact with this author?

Mrs. Briggs: To contact the author, I got an email address for his team from his website.  I emailed and described the Socratic Seminar and how well the students did, and how thoughtful and sincere they are. I asked if it was possible to just do a Skype visit. Finally we got a reply – and a yes! After e-mailing back and forth we settled on a date and time. Mrs. Branco emailed her students with the news and we started preparing first thing when the school year began.

Morgan Taylor: Who was able to see this author and ask questions?

Mrs. Branco: After the success of the Socratic Seminar, Ms. Briggs applied for the CT Association of School Librarians Collaboration Grant which we received. We purchased copies of books by young adult author Jason Reynolds for each student which were similar in theme to the texts they analyzed and discussed for their Seminars. We selected 10 of those students who performed particularly well on the Seminar to come up with discussion questions for a mini-Socratic Seminar with the author during the Q&A portion of his presentation. We also had my current English 1 students attend to see what these discussions are like in preparation for their Socratic Seminars later this year. And we invited the Honors Creative Writing students in preparation for them publishing their own book next semester.

Morgan Taylor: What were some examples of questions that were asked?

Mrs. Branco: Some examples of questions were: “How does the dehumanization of people impact police brutality?” and ‘Where did you get the idea of having ghosts in ‘Long Way Down?’’”