Candidate for
United States Representative; District 38

Democrat Erin Gruwell

Teacher Erin Gruwell has already done what many thought impossible. She is helping nearly 150 inner-city high school students - kids who had been ignored or written off by the education system - achieve their dream of going to college.

Gruwell's tenacity and commitment to her students is chronicled in the recently published Freedom Writers Diary - How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them.

Gruwell, a 30-year-old native of Southern California, is now bringing to her campaign for Congress the same energy and dedication that twice earned her Teacher of the Year honors.

Gruwell has won national attention for her teaching. She and her students have appeared on "The Rosie O'Donnell Show," "Primetime Live" and Barbara Walters' "The View." Her class has been chronicled in the Los Angeles Times, the Long Beach Press Telegram, by the Associated Press and on National Public Radio.

Gruwell has won numerous teaching and humanitarian awards, including the Spirit of Anne Frank Award, the Long Beach Unified School District Teacher of the Year, The Long Beach PTA Teacher of the Year, the Credential Counselors and Analysts Teacher of the Year for the State of California, the Channel 4 (NBC) Crystal Apple Award, the Channel 2 (CBS) What's Right With Southern California Award, the American Jewish Committee Micah Award, the 100 Black Men Award in education, the National Conference of Community, the Justice Gene Lentzer Human Relations Award and the Junior Chamber of Commerce Outstanding Educator Award for the State of California.

Gruwell also founded and is president of the Tolerance Education Foundation, a non-profit organization, which helps fund her students' college education.

Gruwell earned her Masters Degree from California State University at Long Beach and has taught at Woodrow Wilson High in Long Beach since 1994. She is currently the Distinguished Teacher in Residence at CSULB. Her family's roots in Long Beach go back to WWII when her grandfather worked in the local shipyards. Both her father and step-mother earned degrees at California State University at Long Beach. Gruwell is a 1991 graduate of the University of California-Irvine, and has been honored as one of UCI's Top 30 graduates. She is single and lives in Long Beach.