Classroom — Vivé Griffith

The first class I ever taught was a freshman composition class at the University of Cincinnati in 1997. I'd known I wanted to be a teacher. That quarter talking through argument and evidence and paragraph structure, in spite of itself, sealed it. I've been an educator ever since.

I approach the classroom the same way whether I am working with a new group of Free Minds students who don't yet trust that they belong or a gathering of poets at a museum who want to write in response to art. My first job is to create a safe space for exploration. Once we know that our voices will be honored, that our experience will be respected, we can set out to discover what we are capable of.

“I took this class so I could talk about something other than tacos”

— Shirley, Free Minds graduate and taco peddler extraordinaire

Over the years I've taught poetry to teen moms at Marywood School and haiku to kindergarteners at my neighborhood elementary. Students in Free Minds begin the year with Benjamin Franklin and end it with reflective portfolio essays, and in between I guide them through image and line breaks and This I Believe essays. I've taught ekphrastic poetry at the Blanton, beginning yoga in a community center, and a group of undergraduates and I traced fiction from Kafka to Garcia Marquez to Morrison. Since the 2016 election, I've been offering free workshops to activists to give them the tools and confidence to write op-eds and letters to the editor.

Teaching is at the core of everything I do.

Being an educator has made me an advocate. You can't work with adult students year after year and not recognize the ways the system is not set up to support them. I want to see barriers to entry -- including student transcript holds and financial aid bars for ancient academic records -- addressed in educational policy. I want to help students find their way to programs that aim to see them succeed, not take advantage of them. I will stand on behalf of educational equity whenever I can.

The photos below provide a glimpse into my experiences as an educator. Click on a photo for a tiny story about my students and my work. (Hover at the bottom of the photo after clicking.)

HUMANITIES: Why teach literature, philosophy, history, art and writing to people living on low incomes? Because we are here to explore the big questions. All of us.

COMMUNITY: At orientation, students arrive excited, nervous, not sure they belong. In 2013, a graduate came back to offer pens, goodies, and encouragement. It was the warmest of welcomes.

BEGINNING AGAIN: The classroom can inspire, expand, and sometimes intimidate. Here we call each other by name. We sit in a circle. We honor the wisdom and experience around the table.

WRITE IT DOWN: In 2009 I partnered with ACC professor Marcus McQuirter to offer a semester-long class on theater and life visioning. Students built a performance around their deepest wishes.

EKPRHASTIC: I have led community groups and Free Minds students around the Blanton Museum to write poems in response to the art. My own poem was displayed there from 2008-16.

LEADING: We invited program graduates to come together to design their own alumni events. 2nd Saturdays have brought in fascinating professors and experts for years.

MEMORIAL: In 2014 I led a memorial service for a student who died mid-semester. We read poems, shared stories, and watered in a tree planted in her memory.

WHY WE ARE HERE: Remember what brought you here, I said to students. Their reasons filled the board.

FAMILY: What is more powerful than watching a loved one celebrated? Graduation is culmination of so much work and so much courage.

BRAVA: A safe and supportive classroom can enable us to stretch beyond our comfort zones. To read a poem in front of hundreds at graduation deserves applause.

CAP AND GOWN: Students started wearing regalia after one used her newfound skills in persuasion and argument to convince a professor they needed them. They have been donated each year since.

THE NEXT STAGE: Graduation closes with a group photo. As students go on toward their new ventures, so do I. I teach, I write, I advocate. I still believe there is space enough for everyone.

“To come back to college, to be at the table with working class people and people who were struggling and go through this intellectual experience with them, to connect to my inner voice and my love for writing...it was super powerful. And Vivé has an incredible capacity and ability to guide the process and to encourage without making it about her as a teacher.”

— Rachel, Free Minds graduate