‘Power of poetry’ at Denny International Middle School Poetry Slam

With just weeks to go until they move on from Denny International Middle School, headed for high school, dozens of young poets have just put on quite a show. Denny principal Jeff Clark shares photos from last night’s Eighth-Grade Poetry Slam – and this report:

The third annual Eighth-Grade Poetry Slam was a huge success at Denny International Middle School! The event was skillfully emceed by 8th grader Isiah Davis, who introduced nearly 50 Denny Poets. Their words were beautiful, thoughtful, and provoking. Congratulations to our outstanding scholars and their amazing teachers — the power of poetry is alive at Denny International!

One of those teachers, Colin Slingsby, shares his view too, including an observation about a tragedy that touched the 2012-2013 eighth-grade class:

The quality of the thought, writing, and emotion that students invested into their work came through last night as they presented. Many attendees mentioned how moved, touched, and inspired they were by the poetry shared by our 8th grade students.

This year’s 8th grade class was particularly challenged this year by the hardship of losing a classmate and friend Lucie Hernandez, and there were some particularly poignant tributes to Lucie written for this year’s Denny Poetry Slam. The Denny staff and 8th grade Literacy teachers are extremely proud of our students for their bravery and courage in sharing their stories and emotions so powerfully at yesterday’s poetry slam.

You might recall that Lucie was one of two teenagers killed in a deadly in South Park last November; this WSB report from last fall included a tribute her schoolmates created.

1 Reply to "'Power of poetry' at Denny International Middle School Poetry Slam"

  • Mike May 23, 2013 (11:01 pm)

    This is a great way for kids to not only learn to write, but also deal with emotions. Good to see events like this in the news.

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