Out of the Flames

High School students at Paulo Freire Social Justice Charter School in Chicopee, Massachusetts, want to go to college. They look to education to help them chart meaningful and fulfilling futures. The obstacles to their success are daunting. They live in urban neighborhoods similar to other inner-city environments across America where teen pregnancy, violence, gangs, poverty, food scarcity, and despair are the norm. And yet these students dare to hope that they can somehow move beyond "the flames" that could easily engulf their lives. Each entry in this book is a step toward taking control of who they are and where they are going. Each story is an effort to move "out of the flames" that they face on a day to day basis. To "own your story" means being able to change your story. This small book charts important changes that each writer has already made and signal that these changes will continue in the future. May these stories inspire others to look inward for the best in themselves and then to bring that goodness into the world.

That is the best that we can all hope for.