Watts Story Party®   Student Authors with Bobbi McKenna at Markham Middle School.

It's a beautiful sunny day in Los Angeles.  I drive  past the huge Warner Studio's Complex, past  the sign touting VIP Tours, and park under  the shade of a tree in the parking lot of Junior  Achievement of Southern California. I have  come to meet Amelia Way, Director of Public  Awareness & Volunteerism.

The tall and willowy woman with large Valentino-style sunglasses perched on her head, leads me to her car.  She tells me that the air conditioning in her car is broken.  Fortunately, heat doesn't bother me.  Cold does.  I crank down the window and off we go, laughing like old friends.

I’m hitching a ride with her to Markham Middle School in Watts.  I'm still learning my way around Los Angeles, and I'm definitely leery of freeways at rush hour in any city.  Amelia was born and raised in Los Angeles, and if there's a freeway that would intimidate her, I cannot conceive of it.   It has been a dream of mine, for nearly 30 years to work with students in Watts.  Now, thanks to Amelia and Junior Achievement, I will have the opportunity.  The Watts Story Party has grown out of my Junior Author Program for schools.   Amelia and I arrive at Markham Middle  School on East 104th Street, find a parking  space, and walk onto the campus.   If you've ever seen Los Angeles on a beautiful day with the trees in bloom and the palm trees swaying against the blue sky, you know how beautiful it can be.    We walk into the courtyard of the school which is like a small park.There is a beautiful color painted mural on one wall. There's a friendly woman sitting in the shade, who asks us to sign in.

We get visitors badges in the office, and then we are off to the portable classroom where Ms. April White teaches. Ms. White takes  the class roll, enters it into the computer, and then  we're ready to go.Amelia introduces me to the students and says that I have come to help them become published authors.  They are eighth-graders, and they have plenty of stories to tell.  They can hardly wait to get started.  We cover the ground rules. They must submit a legal release giving me permission to edit their stories and Junior Achievement permission to publish them in a book. The legal releases must be signed by their legal guardians.    They can write two to five pages. They can also submit artwork or photos from their own albums at home. In two weeks, I will come back to collect all the materials for the book.   A few students come up to the front of the room to share their story ideas. Then the bell rings, and they rush off to their next class, to be replaced by another group of eighth-grade students.    I go through the whole process again, and then too soon, the bell rings again. Amelia and I climb back into her car. She swings onto the Freeway, and with the hot wind rushing through the windows, we drive back to my car.     Two weeks later, we collect all the stories, photos, artwork, and legal releases. We set up a numbering system to keep track of all the stories and pictures.    I take photos of each student with my digital camera, while Amelia uses a checklist to make sure we have everything we need from each student. We discuss with the students the book signing party that we will have when the book is published – sometime in 2007.    We agree that we will present the book to the Mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa, who has made education one of his top priorities. One student, worried that he may miss the book signing, tells me that he is going on vacation with his family to Mexico.    “That's okay,” I tell him. “It will be next year, when you're in high school.”   Both classes have come and gone. There are bright eighth-graders, full of energy, hope, and optimism. Another harrowing drive that involves at least three freeways, delivers me in one piece back to my car, parked again in the shade of a tree on Forest Lawn Drive. For the next two days, I read through the stories touched by the insight and honesty of the students.    One young author titled her story, “I Love Watts.” In her story, she wrote:   "Watts is full of people with lots of talents. There are people who dance, sing, and play instruments.   We all get along as a strong community. We all look out for each other. Some people may like to say negative things about Watts because of what they see on the news. But I've lived here for 13 years, and I see Watts as a creative place.”    Another student wrote this:    “I live in Watts, a little big town in Los Angeles. I say it’s a big little town because it’s a big town with a little hope and joy.   Make my neighborhood a good town and make my people successful. I want to become an engineer architect, an athlete, or a Master Chef.”   As I read the stories of the Eighth Graders of Markham Middle School, I realize how much they have in common with the very best reporters and journalists. In their lives and in their stories, these students are bearing witness to the truth.    Sometimes bearing witness is the best we human beings can do. But when it comes to our youth, we need to do more. We need to do everything in our power to see that the optimism and faith of these young people in the future of the human community is not misplaced.       If you have any questions,  you can contact Bobbi McKenna: bobbifmckenna@msn.com,  or Amelia Way,  Director of Public Awareness & Volunteerism,  via phone (323) 957-1818, ext. 127  or email Away@jasocal.org.