Mallika S. (PHS), Adhalia R. (PHS), Hendrick K. (Blair), Paulina M., and Alessandro M. at LitFest in the Dena reading from original works
On Saturday, May 4, five PUSD Student Think Tank (STT) members offered a reading to a packed room at LitFest in the Dena in a panel entitled, Unsinged by Fire: Dena Students Unite. Sporting their Student Leadership sweatshirts that were funded and designed by Pasadena Educational Foundation (PEF), the students were featured at a festival that features established poets and writers.
Paulina, Adhalia, and Hendrick shared essays and poems about the devastation that they experienced due to the Eaton fire, while Alessandro read his essay about the February 7, 2025 PUSD student walkout in support of immigration rights. Mallika framed the conversation by sharing the history of desegregation in Pasadena and the impact on PUSD. Their works will be published in an upcoming print anthology, The Learning Curve, that is affectionately nicknamed TLC. The publication was started during the covid lockdown and contains stories, poems and artwork by PUSD middle and high school students.
In an interview on LAist, Tom Coston, board chair of the Light Bringer project that organizes the festival, talked about how much he was looking forward to hearing the high school students.
Mallika presented at LitFest in the Dena for the first time in 2024 and worked closely with fellow PHS senior Paulina to curate the 2025 panel. “It was an honor to return and speak at LitFest this year about a topic that has affected us so deeply these last few months. I am so lucky to have shared the panel with my wonderful peers and such a receptive and insightful audience!”
PEF board member Karen Burgess attended the festival especially to attend the student panel. “These students moved me deeply. It was such an honor to experience the raw power and beauty of their work. I left feeling immensely hopeful for the future they will help shape.”
