Michael Galbraith is an award winning literacy teacher at the Grover Washington Jr. Middle School in the Olney section of Philadelphia.  He taught in Chicago, Vermont and New Hampshire before settling in Philadelphia in 2000. Michael has a Masters in Education from Cabrini College and received his Bachelors in Education from DePaul University.  Michael recently completed his ESL certification at Penn State University and is also now certified to teach High School English.  In addition to his work at Grover Washington, Michael maintains a partnership with LaSalle University's Graduate Education Department where he furthers his message of using writing to help students understand and better their lives.

Michael is a presenter at both national and regional conferences.  His work with students has been written about in the award winning 5 part Philadelphia Inquirer series “Writing for their Lives”.  Michael also worked with his student to create “Sweet Memories of Beloved Children” for a StoryCorps segment on NPR.  Michael is one of the first teachers nationwide to work with Erin Gruwell and her Freedom Writers Foundation as a Freedom Writer Teacher.  He received the  designation “Freedom Writer Teacher” in July of 2006 and is a contributor to her book the Freedom Writers Teacher's Guide as well as her New York Times Bestseller Teaching Hope: Stories From the Freedom Writer Teachers.

Michael is a 2007 Milken Educator Award winner and has been recognized regionally for his community based service learning projects as well as his commitment to excellence in education. 

Michael is also the co-author of the National Middle School Association best seller  Voices of Teens: Writers Matter  based on his work with middle school students in Philadelphia.  The book was published in the Summer 2008 and is available for sale at nmsa.org.  Renowned education advocate Erin Gruwell, played by Hilary Swank in the movie The Freedom Writers, wrote the forward for the book.