Ms. Gilbert’s ESL – II students have published a book entitled, “Self-Portraits.” This book is the result of class essay writing developed from a High Point textbook theme: “Create a Self-Portrait” by Hampton Brown. Most of these students are newly arrived immigrants and are learning English in Ms. Gilbert’s ESL –II class three periods a day at Menlo-Atherton High School. As a part of this class writing assignment on page 53 in High Point Text Book, the students wrote essays titled, “Self-Portrait” and discovered their merits and shortcomings during this writing project. These amazing true stories together with posters of their self portraits and an introduction letter with the student’s photo are creatively displayed in the book; soft cover and hardcover versions.

The authors of this book sincerely thank all of the Menlo-Atherton Volunteer Tutors who put forth their tireless efforts in correcting and proofreading these writings. These authors and Ms. Gilbert stated that, “We received great inspiration and constant encouragement from our M-A teachers and students who challenged us throughout our academic programs, never accepting less than our best efforts. We gratefully acknowledge the M-A Principal, Mr. Zito, and the M-A PTA who gave us invaluable help. Finally, we sincerely thank our parents and guardians who guided our lives so patiently and gave us an abundant opportunity in a new country. Thank you for allowing us to publish our true stories into a book we will always treasure and share with our friends.”

Thanks to Ms. Beers, this book will be available for your reading enjoyment in the M-A Library in the near future.