Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Education Programs topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Swampscott teachers to host book club and author visit on METCO experience
Summary
Teacher Lindsey Palazzotti described a district and community book club centered on Jennifer De Leon’s novel Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From, funded by local grants, with a May 19 community preview and an author presentation planned for May 27.
Lindsey Palazzotti, a Swampscott teacher, told the school committee on April 10 that she has organized a teacher and community book club around the novel Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From by Jennifer De Leon, with grant support and an author visit planned for late May.
Palazzotti said she applied for grants in the fall and received funding from the METCO program and the Essex County Learning Community (ECLC) so the district could run an educator book club, invite the author, and host community events. "I applied to some grants in the fall with this idea of I wanted to run a book club around this novel called Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From by local author, Jennifer De Leon," Palazzotti said. She described the novel’s themes—identity, discrimination and the experience of a METCO student—and said the book has been useful as a way to structure discussions without making them personal.
Palazzotti said about 20 teachers have signed up to meet four consecutive weeks after school; ninth-grade teachers will offer the book as an independent-reading option so students can participate and see the author during her visit. The plan also includes an affinity-group lunch with METCO leadership and additional educator and student events. Shore Diversity will use the novel for its May community book club meeting at the public library on Monday, May 19; Palazzotti invited the public to a district-wide presentation on May 27. "We're inviting everyone in the community, whether you read the book or not, to join us on May 27 for her presentation on the power of storytelling to the community," she said.
Palazzotti asked for community partners to provide refreshments for the evening event and to sponsor the affinity lunch. Committee members praised the plan as consistent with district values and useful timing given the incoming superintendent and continuing METCO work.
The district said students who cannot afford event fees will be supported and that more detailed schedules will be shared with families and staff as the dates approach.
