SMU’s Free Short Graphic Novel Helps K-12 Educators See Homelessness Through their Students’ Eyes
Southern Methodist University (SMU) education researchers on Tuesday launched a free 16-page graphic novel — titled “Uprooted” — to help K-12 educators identify and serve homeless students.
Demonstrating the fear, shame and lack of stability that many students and their families experience, the graphic novel is the brainchild of SMU education researchers Alexandra Pavlakis and Meredith Richards, and former SMU postdoctoral fellow, Kessa Roberts, now assistant professor at Utah State University.
The researchers have spent a combined 30 years studying how homelessness affects students and the best ways to help them succeed in school.
Their graphic novel aims to provide a compelling snapshot of the diverse realities that students experiencing homelessness face, countering the myths that surround them and deepening educators’ policy awareness and sensitivity to the issue.
