"What if...? That's the question that began Families with Power/Familias con Poder, a grass-roots organization of low-income students and caregivers in Northampton, MA in 2007. What if the families of students most impacted by the "opportunity gap" somehow had the power to organize whatever activities they felt would best help their children succeed? Mary Cowhey, a teacher who co-founded FWP, shares these stories and the voices of her fellow FWP organizers through vignettes and interviews, weaving in the lessons learned along the way. Inspired by Paulo Freire's popular education and the radical tradition of the Highlander Folk School, some Latina and African mothers, a great-grandmother and a couple of teachers founded Families with Power (FWP). Organizing Family Reading Parties in each other's living rooms (instead of meetings at school) to recruit additional families and identify potential leaders, FWP created a Highlander-style residential retreat that employed Freirean culture circles to pose problems and design programs to address them. Readers will get an inside look at the benefits, successes and challenges of more than a dozen years of student and family engagement in the community and school, tackling issues from academics, race and class to immigration and public health"--

This book contains the early history of Warren Township High School from its beginnings as Gurnee’s two-year high school. The two-year high school evolved first into a three-year township high school and finally into a four-year township high school in 1917. The book also includes an early history of Warren’s sports teams, experiences of its students, and descriptions of life at Warren. There are also stories about no-table students, teachers, coaches, and prominent citizens in the area. If you are wondering why I named the book The Revised Early History of Warren Township High School, I’ll explain. Originally, I only intended to write a history of Warren’s football teams. While researching football, I occasionally ran across articles about the school’s early history. I saved what I found and filed it away. Then the Warren Township Historical Society asked me to write an account of Warren football for their newsletter. While writing about the football team I decided to add all the other information about Warren’s history that I found earlier, calling it the “Early History of Warren Township High School.” Six months after writing the article, I noticed a couple of mistakes that needed correction and decided to do a more in-depth study of the high school’s history. I ended up with enough Warren history that I was able to write this book and correct my mistakes as well.

An unforgettable look at an obscure part of the deep south just before the dawning of the Civil Rights movement and the turbulent 1960s would forever change it forever. A unique blend of humor, pathos, and bitter reality throws a harsh and revealing light on this this strange time and the people who were a part of it. Examine a place where the past is never past, and history hangs over the hot dirt roads and swamps like a morning mist. Examine a now forgotten world where men could die over a load of wet cotton, a cock fight, a fence line, a missing hog, or a romantic promise not kept. A place where the past lies like a rattlesnake under a bush waiting to strike. A world where little boys had hookworms and old black men sold Bolita. A world where a dream book could tell the future and a root doctor could cure an illness or fix a romance gone bad. It is a strange and mysterious world, full of fear and superstitions, strange people and strange customs. It is a world where black magic and old time religion go hand in hand. A world of tobacco fields and outhouses, pulpwood and moonshine stills, juke joints and whore houses. In the fall of 1959, a small group of frightened young high school boys gather in the late afternoon twilight to become a part of their local chapter of the Future Farmers of America. However, this was to be much more than a simple initiation. This was to become more than just one more school function. This night would change all their lives as they have to decide what price was too much to pay for being one of The Ag Boys.

Burell Shull shares the stories from his childhood to adulthood and all the stories in between. Born and raised in Southern Illinois, Burell grew up as a poor boy in the great depression. From depression, to time at war, to becoming a farmer, to raising a family, Burell shares it all. What was it really like growing up during the Great Depression?