Although I had heard of the genre, I was first exposed to a poetry slam at my district middle school. The librarian, Linda Kimball, and the English teachers collaborated during Poetry month annually to bring a Poet in Residence to the school. It was my first year in the district and I was invited to see the Slam on the last day of the residence week. Middle School students were totally engaged in the performance. I immediately began thinking about how to bring this to my high school students. After speaking with Alex, the Poet in Residence at Gibbons Middle School, I realized that this would be a vehicle to empower high school students to find their voice.
I continued my research with the resources that were provided from Alex Charalambides, Co-founder and Continuing Events Co-Chair of The Massachusetts Literary Education and Performance Collective (also known as Mass LEAP). Mass LEAP is sponsored by Mass Poetry. MassLEAP brought Louder than a Bomb (LTAB) Teen Poetry Slam Festival to Massachusetts in 2012. I started tossing the idea around with English teachers and at this point understood that an entire experience would be most beneficial to our high school students. As I explored the teacher guides and coach information regarding the annual poetry slam, I had a better idea of how to put this all together. Alex came to the school and met with us about what our program could look like. He was willing to be our Poet in Residence in the Spring. All of our planning for the program happened the year before implementation. Now we just needed to find funding for the program.
In our district, the Education Foundation offers Grants to educators. The Westborough Education Foundation (WEF) is a nonprofit organization of citizens committed to the support of innovative educational programs within the Westborough Public Schools. WEF grants are intended to provide the initial funding for such projects, with the idea that successful programs might later be integrated into the regular school curriculum.
We wrote the grant and included the following:
This initiative will be accomplished through bringing
the transformative power of the spoken word to students in grades 9-12 through
innovative workshops and interdisciplinary activities supported by MassLEAP
(Literary Education & Performance) a collaborative with MassPoetry. Students will participate in a series of
interactive and performance based seminars and workshops throughout the school
year that will culminate in a statewide Teen Poetry Slam Festival at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston.
·
In school events provided through collaboration
with MassLEAP:
o
Poetry Slam 101 session
o
Demonstration Poetry Slam
o
Poet in Residence Intensive Workshop
o
Louder Thana Bomb film Screening and discussion
·
Afterschool
Seminars facilitated by Kathleen
Stoker, English Teacher and Anita Cellucci, Library Teacher
o
8 Seminars -
§
Team building
§
Poetry writing
§
Performances
The Grant was approved for $2680.00 for the 2011-2012 school year. We began implementing at the beginning of the school year with a Demonstration Poetry Slam that was presented to all Grade 10 students. We gained initial interest and held afterschool workshops and seminars. Promotion was on Library Posters, website, school announcements, online school newspaper and interviews.
The 2012-13 program has been well received at WHS. There have been 8-10 students consistently
involved in the after school workshops.
The Demonstration Poetry Slam
Assembly was held in October for grade 10 students and created an avenue
for conversation surrounding the program.
Students were excited by the poets who shared their creativity on that
day. Several students spoke with the poets after the assembly. The excitement was continued with the October
afterschool event, Poetry Slam 101,
which allowed students to gain insight into the history of poetry slam and to
work independently with a slam poet. The
Louder than A Bomb film screening in
February was attending well, with about 35 students enjoying the 90 minute
movie. Conversation after the film revealed that students were eager to share
their own thoughts through the creative art of performance poetry. These
students have worked hard on their poems in the afterschool workshops
facilitated by Anita Cellucci and Kathy Stoker.
The Poet in Residence Program was also a catalyst to build further excitement. Several English Teachers brought their
classes into the library during the week long program to work with MassLEAP
poet, Alex, in dynamic interactive lessons.
Alex was in the library for four full days, seeing classes every period
of the day and also for four drop-in sessions after school. Many students came into the library for
advice from Alex regarding their poetry.
Alex was extremely adept at offering positive advice for each student
individually in the after school sessions. Students were engaged, amazed and connected.
Here area few of the positive outcomes after the Poet in Residence:**Students willingly performed their original poetry during classes and after school.
**One student performed from our new "stage" area in the library allowing her classmates to see another side of her personality.
**Several students stopped Alex, the poet, in the hallway to show him their latest poems.
**A diverse group of teens came to each of the after school sessions.
Our goal was to have a solid team after our Residence week in March. We did accomplish this and brought a group of 4 students to LTAB held at MassArt after much encouragement to the students that were interested. Our team competed individually and as a group. It was a joy to watch the other teams welcome and encourage our newbie students. It was truly a day of community. We all left incredibly lifted by the spirit of the poetry slam experience.
Looking ahead to the next school year (2013-2014), we have again been awarded a Grant to continue the program. We plan to do much of the same but with more of a focus in the beginning of the year to create our team. Three of our members from last year will be rejoining and have promised to bring friends. With the connections that were made throughout the experience, we hope to offer Poetry Slams and open them up for friendly competition with nearby schools.
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