“Bridging the Divide” Class Pairs HM Seniors with Incarcerated Women
When celebrated filmmaker Lynn Novick ’79 paid a visit to Horace Mann School in the fall of 2020, she had no idea that her Emmy-nominated documentary series, College Behind Bars, would inspire then-sophmore Simon Schackner ’22 to invent an entirely new concept of learning at HM. Emboldened by Novick’s presentation, Simon approached Upper Division English teacher Rebecca Bahr about his interest in developing a class that would unite HM students with incarcerated people in the study of literature. After much planning, Simon’s dream was realized. Senior English elective “Bridging the Divide,” launched in September 2021, pairs students with incarcerated women from the minimum-security Southern Maine Women’s Reentry Center (SMWRC). The course, team-taught via Zoom by Bahr and Abbie Embry-Turner of the SMWRC, joined the two groups in the reading, examination, and discussion of a wide range of works from contemporary American fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. The second semester offering of the class, entitled “Monster Lit: Human Monsters, Monstrous Humans,” explored Steven King’s short stories, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, and a poetry anthology by Reginald Dwayne Betts entitled Felon, among other works.
The course was spotlighted in a Ms. Magazine article on April 14, 2022, which can be found here: https://msmagazine.com/2022/04/14/women-prison-high-school-students/
(Full disclosure: The author’s son was a student in the class last year. He thoroughly enjoyed the experience!)