The following idea is prefaced by this acknowledgement: I don’t believe in spending other people’s money…

and time is money.

I saw a documentary 2 years ago on a school called Greenwood, empowering young people through recital and delivery of President Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. [ Ed.: HIGHLY recommended- Ken Burns’ The Address ]

For groups new to writing or to writing-as-therapy, 

( Examples: 

• returning or in-treatment veterans’ groups
• communities of elders
• older new readers

),

have some of the young people go to the groups as guests. 

The exercise could involve dividing the Address into cogent units (sorta make “paragraphs” out of it together), choosing one or two, and-

well, sorta summarizing its message, distilling the thrust of the thought.

Bless y’all, Greenwood School. Hope there’s some work in it for y’all! Peace.