THE HATE U GIVE Giving Page

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Thank you so very much for your generous donation of The Hate You Give. This powerful, relevant and beautiful story has been a big hit and such a delight to teach! As you can see from my photos my kids and I have been having so much fun reading and analyzing this book while we explore the importance of counter narratives.

So far in our unit my kids have participated in three Literature Circles where we analyzed the development of plot, characters and theme in these two stories. We have also gotten our creative juices flowing with a "Graphic Novel" activity (where students turn a chapter from the story into a mini graphic novel) and "Lost Scene Skits" (where we put on our theater hats and re-imagined scenes from the stories).

The Hate You Give has been the perfect book to end our year with and my students and I could not be more thankful for your donation which made this unit possible!”

With gratitude,

Mr. Niemann

I will do my best to put into words the amazing impact this experience had for our students and our school community as a whole. The trip went better than we could have dreamed! Altogether, 61 students and 4 staff ended up getting to enjoy watching this incredible movie in a theater to ourselves with snacks for each student. The students were so excited in the days leading up and already thrilled before we even made it in the theater doors. The process went smooth as everyone got their snacks and we got set up as a group in the theater. Before the movie started, we took a minute to talk about why we found the book so meaningful and took a few seconds to fill in the few students who had not finished the book. Even this part, watching the students share their reactions and responses to each other, was already a powerful moment.

Throughout the movie, I saw a range of emotions on students faces, something they aren't always willing to share with each other, but somehow this experience seemed to be opening many of them up. It's hard to identify a specific highlight of the trip because almost every reaction was an enthusiastic rave review of the entire experience. For the staff, the highlight came after the movie was over - as an alternative school it is hard to get students excited about being on campus, but that day so many of the students stayed longer and talked more to each other than I have ever seen before. They wanted to be there: to process, to share their thoughts, and to hold on to the experience a little longer.

After the trip, students completed two different written responses. One was a journal, explaining their reactions and thoughts after seeing the movie, which also was an opportunity for students to continue to process their reactions. The other was a comparison of the movie to the book. This opened up a much deeper discussion about the events of the book and the significance of these events in relation to our current society than I saw throughout the reading or in the final project before the event.

In the months following, this trip has been mentioned on almost a weekly basis throughout our community. It brought a stronger sense of community that was so necessary for our campus and our students. The smooth process and lasting impact also encouraged other teachers to plan field trips, citing the success of this trip as their motivation.

What a success! We are so incredibly grateful that you helped make this happen.”

With gratitude,

Ms. Meibeyer

This is written to thank you for giving my students the amazing opportunity to see this movie as a class. The experience flamed passion for literacy, current events, social and political engagement, as well as thought-provoking, insightful commentary. I believe my high school students' words and pictures say it best.

Desire: Thank you for allowing us to see such a wonderful and powerful movie. We had a great time. There were parts we'll never forget. The main part for me was when Starr got up on the car and used the bullhorn as a weapon. Words and communication are powerful weapons. The HateUGive wasn't just a movie, it wasn't just meant to entertain you. It was meant to open your eyes. To realize the hate you give screws everyone around you, especially the kids. You (society) want us to change, start a new family, and leave a legacy, but you leave us no leverage. You let our race, family, name, background, and lifestyle decide who we are. But, you don't know anything about us. We shouldn't pay taxes for the services of cops who take innocent lives. Sometimes, I wonder if I'll ever make it out of the hood with a decent job...we must stop the cycle of hate and hopelessness.

Amalia: Thank you for making it possible for us to watch the movie. It was one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. Not only that, but it was a movie that shed light on many important issues in today's society. I think it's important for schools to show this movie to students because we need to learn how to voice our opinions. We also need to learn to spread positivity generation to generation, rather than spreading hate, which produces this cycle of hate and anger. The movie also made me think about all the fake "wokeness." This means that people "act" like they know and care so much about certain causes, yet, they don't "really" care. Also, there are people who abuse certain strikes and protests just to skip school and work. Personally, I don't act like I am "woke." However, I would like to be more aware about the problems and events that take place to hurt our country. If you protest, you should care about what you are protesting. Take time to study and research what's going on. The THUGLIFE acronym is very relevant today. I can really see how kids get negative, hateful, and hurtful because of their environment. Sekani's moment at the end was something so powerful that I cannot forget. Uncle Carlos' words to Starr were also memorable and real.”

With gratitude,

Ms. Newman

Thank you so much for your generous support of my students and their learning. It enabled us to take an amazing field trip to a nearby theater where we watched The Hate U Give together. All of the students on the field trip had spent time in our book club reading and discussing the novel. In addition to reading and discussing, we learned about inspirations for the novel--including Tupac's poetry and music.

The field trip was wonderful--we all sat together in one long row and there were tears shed, but smiles, too. After the film, we were able to come back to school and discuss what we'd seen and experienced.

This was a memorable field trip that will stay with my students for a long time. Thank you so much for your generosity!”

With gratitude,

Ms. S.

The hype that built in the freshmen leading up the movie cannot be described. I teach one hundred and fifty students; because of the size of the theater, I could only bring about fifty-five students. I have never seen students rush in their permission slips faster. There were even students from other classes who came in, asking if they could go! My students were already excited because of the book; they by and large enjoyed the book enormously. When they found out we were going to see the movie, phones were immediately out to find the cast and there were multiple class days spent by turns students sighing over whichever actor they decided they had a crush on (the actor who plays Khalil was the over-all favorite) and judging looks when an actor didn't quite look as imagined. Either way, the students were excited.

After a few hiccups, we scheduled the movie trip for the week of finishing the book. Students were so happy to see the movie; during the film, there was a massive collective yell of approval when Khalil came on the screen. There were shouts of anger when Officer 115 shot Khalil and later when Maverick is forced to the ground. There were cheers when Starr shows up Hailey and gasps during the final scene with Sekani - a notable change from the book. We were fortunate in having the theater to ourselves; there was no way I would have been able to quiet my students, even if I wanted to!

Coming back to the classroom, students were bubbling over to describe what they liked, what they didn't like. Many students shared that they preferred the book - a personal victory for me as an English teacher! They did, however, really enjoy seeing their favorite characters and scenes on the screen. We talked about how the emotions of characters, with Starr at the police precinct and the riots later, were much better understood being seen. This was why I wanted to take them to see the movie; so often, we all learn best when we are able to learn with multiple senses, engaged with multiple mediums. Thank you so much for giving my students this opportunity!”

With gratitude,

Mx. Sheppard-Matsuo

Thank you so much for your generous donation so we could go on our field trip! It was truly an amazing experience. The students from this class have created such a bond together, and I think the field trip really added to that. They absolutely loved going, and had so much to say after the movie was over! We had many great conversations comparing the novel to the movie!

Overall, the class was a huge success! I can't wait to teach it again next year. Every student in the class stressed how important this class was to them and they all felt like it had made an impact on their lives. Not to mention, many students are convinced they are now life long readers. None of this would have been possible without your donation. Thank you!”

With gratitude,

Ms. Edge

Thank you so much for providing this opportunity for my students to view The Hate U Give movie. The trip was a success, and the students were excited to see the movie because of the many commercials and advertisements. They had read the book and loved it; therefore, there was so much anticipation about seeing the movie. Would it be as good as the book? Well, it was! One of the highlights of the trip was the social experience of students interacting before and after the movie. The conversations on the bus after viewing the movie were insightful and thought provoking. Students, in these conversations, were actually analyzing the book and making interpretations as well as comparing and contrasting the movie to the book.

These conversations continued back in the classroom and just broadened students' ability to analyze film just like they do short stories and other genres of literature. Moreover, students are currently working on their own short films. We just had a discussion yesterday about the many choices that a director has to make, and they used The Hate U Give movie as an example of how some characters and scenes from the book were deleted in the movie.

I can't express how grateful we are for your generosity. This is a movie that my students will always remember. It had such an impact on their lives that some of them viewed it again with their parents.”

With gratitude,

Ms. G.

I cannot begin to describe the gratitude and impact this field trip has made on my students. The students felt so responsible to be on their own with out their parents and rooming aside of town of LA they may have never experienced. Me being from Chicago, they treated me as their tour guide and showed me all the things that LA had to offer. Once in the film every turn the movie took the students felt their emotions. By the end of the movie we had tears

all over the group from such a powerful video production. Students loved that they were represented in the big screen and the struggles they go to were pictured. The highlight of my trip was that my students felt rewarded for working hard in academics. They learned what a true reward feels like if they I've it their all. They would make comments such as on the next interim I want to get a higher score to make sure we get another trip like this! We revolved the learning around how what we can do as a team and as individuals to break down the statistics and expectations of colored students. We created goals to make sure we take the right path and everything we do has a better purpose for ourselves or our community. We even created identity food trucks to better understand our own culture and roots. Thank you a million times for what you all do!”

With gratitude,

Ms. Ayala

What a interesting experience we had viewing the film, "The Hate U Give." It was an intense time for some; one of our more sensitive students had to leave the theater. Others sobbed as they watched, because it was so real to them. From their comments, it seems that they seldom see films on the big screen that reflect this aspect of their own lives.

In the days following, I was struck by how often my American History students just started talking about it to each other, unprompted. Boys and girls openly admitted to crying during the film. One of the most interesting things I heard was, "The only people who cried were the ones who haven't lived it." If this is true, it implies that some of our students are so familiar with violence that it fictional conflict can't hurt them any more. I hope movies such as this one will bring this truth home to others who don't know it. Thank you for championing this controversial film, and of course our sincere thanks for helping us to view it.”

With gratitude,

Ms. Kell