April 19, 2008 – WriteGirl returned to the Expo Center for a Journalism workshop. Presenters included Los Angeles Times columnist Patt Morrison, blogger Colleen Wainwright, KNBC-TV Executive Producer Rebecca Nieto, and Adrianna Dunn of HuffingtonPost.com.

Part of the day focused on writing blogs. Here are excerpts from blogs about a wide variety of subjects that girls starting writing at the workshop.

Janelle F., 11th grade, wrote:

“Artists like Vincent Van Gogh and Claude Monet often painted landscapes with vivid colors of fields and haystacks. I’m a writer and artist, and if I looked out my window, the scenery would be far from Van Gogh’s brightly colored corn fields. I would find a field of packed, paint peeled houses. Instead of green shady trees, I would run into industrial buildings and cars.

If I were to paint what I thought Los Angeles should be, instead of deep green hues, I would pour on globs of gray, black, and brown paint. The only color comes from the dotted roofs of cars. Endless streams of cars have now become the modern river.”

Toree B., 10th grade, wrote:

“Many children are abused by a relative or someone close to them. It can be physically, emotionally, or verbally. It hurts a child dramatically and usually affects them in a negative way.

I was a victim of verbal abuse and I can tell you, it hurts when someone is beating down on you for the simplest reasons. So, don’t let anyone abuse you and never abuse anyone else.”

Mariah D., 12th grade, wrote:

“At my high school, we have a unity club. The basis of the club is to accept and promote respect for all forms of sexual orientation. The club is one of the constantly popular booths at our annual Club Faire every year. How wonderful, right? Well it’s my senior year and our prom is only a month and a half away.

I am set on who I wish to share this experience with – my hilarious friend, Marcus. But a guy named Robert who wants to bring his partner Greg, or a girl named Jennifer wants to bring her partner Tasha, are stuck. They are stuck in an agonizing situation, for they cannot bring a same sex partner to the prom.

Our school has the nerve to celebrate its diversity, but not when prom night creeps around the corner. So much for the “Home of Scholars and Champions.”

– Anthea Raymond, WriteGirl Volunteer