Testimonials
Ed-Lib
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Feedback from the high school teacher, Shakira Mattson, Westbury High School, New York
“Sonia has an amazing ability to motivate students as she works individually with each one. It was great to see the students' transformation as she helped them turn their narratives into something they could be proud to show others. One of the students, Pablo, was so excited the day after he completed the digital portion of the project he asked me if I could show it immediately to the rest of the class.
A lot of students lack self-confidence and self-worth. Through projects like the ones Sonia does with them, they are able to realize how much they CAN do and reach their potential.”
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Feedback from Elisa Waters, Jericho Middle School, New York
"Sonia Arora is a passionate educator, and whatever she asks students to try, they do. Out of respect for her. And out of a curiosity which may have already been in them, but often times, because she inspired them to look deeper or to try something new.
This year Sonia joined my SEEDlings elective at Jericho Middle School for the “Digital Arts and Activism” project. Students were presented with examples of short films displaying activism, and then they chose topics close to their hearts and created their own films.
As a teacher, Sonia comes into class with a plan. But is also flexible to let that go if conversation prevails. Sonia connected with many students- not just those who were passionate about a topic or about filmmaking, but those who struggled with English as I have many ENL students in my classes, those who had no experience creating films, and those grappling to dig deeper into their topic."
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Writers on the Sound
I often feel frustrated that I do not write more, or even regularly. What I love about Sonia’s workshop is that we spend some bit of time each session writing to a prompt or a stirring of our own. These get me started, and I often go back to them to expand, edit, and continue what I began in those 20 minutes. As we listen to or read each other’s work, we absorb what makes for better writing. And equally important, we learn, following Sonia’s gentle style, how to communicate our suggestions to each writer in a careful, thoughtful, and helpful way, in a way that does not discourage but facilitate, for each of us, our capacity to enter and breathe life into our own writing space.
Sheri Lindner
I first came to Sonia's Continuing Ed writers' class at Weber Middle School a number of years ago. Her enthusiasm, her passion and her prompts opened new writing vistas for me. Since then I have gone back to school and am an English major! I have used some of my Writers On the Sounds (WOTS) pieces as starters for a number of college assignments. I'm getting straight As, just sayin'. Thank you Sonia!
Lisa Patterson Lay