57 English Journal 101.5 (2012): 57–62 Amanda N. Gulla e author describes an ethnographic study in which a skillful teacher builds relationships with her students that help them to develop literacy expertise without losing their identities. Putting the “Shop” in Reading Workshop: Building Reading Stamina in a Ninth-Grade Literacy Class in a Bronx Vocational High School or many teachers of middle school and high school, the greatest chal- lenge they face in trying to help struggling readers improve their skills can be students’ self-perception. When young people do not see themselves as members of the “literacy club” (Smith 37), it is not just a simple matter of persuading them that becoming a flu- ent reader is worth the effort. Some students take a deliberate and public stance distancing themselves from the culture and all of the behaviors associated with school, from carrying books to doing home- work to participating in class discussions. Convinc- ing such students that they can do well in school without losing their identities requires patience and understanding, and an ability to build relation- ships in which students feel understood and cared for. What follows is an account of what it can look like when a teacher has the skill and the passion to be able to establish such an atmosphere. This article describes an ethnographic study of a ninth-grade literacy classroom in Urban High School, a vocational or Career and Technical Edu- cation (CTE) school located in the South Bronx in New York City. While the school’s Automotive and Building Trades departments are successful by many standards, providing impressive professional internships in the automotive and building trades for many seniors who do well in both their shop and their academic classes, a significant number of stu- dents fail the English Language Arts Regents Exam and fail to meet graduation requirements. Students attend Urban for a variety of rea- sons. While there are some who choose this school because of an interest in automotive or building trades, other students have said that they were encouraged by their school counselors to apply to Urban because they lack a strong academic record and might not be accepted by a more selective high school. Despite a high level of technical literacy required to comprehend trade manuals and text- books, vocational schools tend to be plagued by a perception that their academic programs lack rigor. When students who struggle with traditional lit- eracy are steered into these schools, low academic achievement becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. In- deed, according to the 2008–2009 New York State School Report Card, only 26% of students at Urban passed the Comprehensive English Regents exam with a grade of 55 or above. Mike Rose points out that “Vocational courses still tend to be the domain of working- class students and students of color” (169). For most students at Urban, learning the trades that are taught there holds the potential for significant so- cioeconomic advancement; failure to pass academic literacy benchmarks can hold them back from ad- vancing in or even from entering shop classes. Ironically, students who might come to reading and writing through the channel of a hands-on skill are held back from the opportunities to do so if they do not first master their academic class work. Hands-On Engagement As part of a grant shared among several CTE high schools in the city, Urban High School hired the New York City Writing Project (NYCWP) F