This article about our outreach program LAWWA, called Word Up! in the probation system, and is reprinted from the July 2001 Santa Barbara County Probation Department's newsletter, The Rap Sheet.

Word Up!

WARNING!  News Flash:  Word Up! from Santa Barbara has stormed Los Prietos Boys Camp and the Tri-Counties Boot Camp in a brash attempt to "free" the boys.  Armed with explosive multi-cultural literature, pencils, and a ringleader trained to crack the most impenetrable minds, Word Up! has started a reading revolution among the Campers that cannot be contained.  Apparently, the brains behind the ambitious plot was none other than Karin delaPena of Speaking of Stories and Panto Theatre fame.  Though she would never admit to it in a court of law, it was Karin's idea to arm each of the boys with their own binder of liberating literature.  According to the authorities, Native American tales, poems about the African-American experience, and stories about the experience of growing up Latino in the United States can all be found in the binders.

By themselves the binders are essentially harmless until Karin's conspirator Bohdan Porendowsky encourages the boys to read the text out loud to themselves and each other.  This courageous act helps the boys to understand the depth of the terrific writing in the binders.  Once the boys have read out loud, Bohdan shows the boys how to 'score' the text so that they can read the stories  and poems out loud more expressively.  For years, 'scoring the text' has been the secret of actors (and other nefarious types) who want to better understand what they are reading so that they can mesmerize their audiences.  Downright dangerous to illiteracy, 'scoring the text' involves the volatile process of underlining those words in a text the ought to be emphasized during reading, and marking those places where pauses should occur (reintroducing punctuation, which has gradually lost favor).  

Beware-- these techniques increase comprehension and analytical ability.  Although these techniques sound basic, it's a good idea to have someone around who's "done some serious time" to show the rookie how to use this new tool.  And Bohdan is the man of the hour. So far, the results up at Los Prietos  could be astounding to the public at large.  Some of the boys were reluctant at first to take up arms and bust out of the cages in which they held their own minds.  Others, however, jumped at the opportunity for freedom and have literally stood up to read the stories and poems and have their voices be heard.  They have begun the liberating process of reading out loud expressively.  What is desired most, ladies and gentlemen, is now that a pry bar has been taken to these mental prisons, the desire to read will spread like wildfire among the Los Prietos Boys Camp and Tri-Counties Boot Camp and nothing will be able to stop it.

Bohdan Porendowsky is an Outreach Facilitator for the Speaking of Stories "Word Up!" program.  He is a graduate of the Film Studies Department at UC Santa Barbara.  Bohdan enjoys helping youth-at-risk discover their talents in the classroom and realize their strengths in wilderness settings.

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