Birchwood School Library

Birchwood School is a school for students, grades 6 – 12, in the South Carolina (SC) Department of Juvenile Justice Special School District (SCDJJ). The current student population consists of 110 SC youth that have been adjudicated for one or more criminal offenses. Recognizing the potential of graphic novels for helping students meet standards, in 2012, Birchwood faculty collaborated with two professors in the School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) at the University of South Carolina, and a graphic illustrator, to help students create a graphic novel on HIV/AIDS. Their Will Eisner Graphic Novel Innovation Grant project "Our Story Told Through Graphic Illustrations: The View from Behind the Fence” is a collaborative effort between two professors from the University of South Carolina’s School of Library and Information Science and the Birchwoord School in the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice. The aim is to provide incarcerated youth with a unique opportunity to develop visual literacy skills and an awareness of careers in the visual arts.