Thursday, October 23, 2014

Lambda Literary Announces Partnership with San Diego Unified School District

Lambda Literary, the nation's leading nonprofit organization advancing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender literature, is proud to announce an historic partnership with the San Diego Unified School District to make its LGBT Writers in Schools Program available to the city's high school students.

Approved by the San Diego Board of Education last week, Lambda Literary will introduce San Diego Unified high school students to the program by uniting LGBTQ authors with District classrooms via video Skype or in-class visits to discuss the author's work and LGBTQ issues.

"I am excited about our partnership with Lambda writers to provide high school students with the opportunity to learn as critical thinkers and engage authors through Skype," said Kevin Beiser, President of the San Diego Unified School Board. "This aligns with our vision of providing quality schools in every neighborhood."

LGBTQ Writers in Schools was founded in 2012 as the newest initiative of Lambda Literary. Designed for teachers of high school classes, universities and colleges, and student organizations, the LGBTQ Writers in Schools program is an opportunity for writers to discuss their work openly with students and to encourage diversity not only in the students' reading and writing lives, but also in society at large. This initiative broadens the foundation of experience for students of literature, creative writing, English, secondary education, history and social studies.

While Lambda Literary's LGBT Writers in Schools Program is available to teachers in any city, this is the first such partnership adopted by a major U.S. school district.

"We're thrilled to be working with San Diego Unified to introduce great LGBTQ books to their high school students to enrich their reading lives and further their understanding of the LGBTQ experience," said Tony Valenzuela, Lambda Literary's Executive Director. "This is an historic partnership advancing Lambda Literary's work with young people that we hope will be a model for school districts across the country looking to take San Diego's lead."