Student’s poetry ‘slams’ Barnes and Nobles by Gabrielle Cestone, staff reporter

The first Poetry Slam took place at Barnes and Nobles in Bay Terrace on February 17th. Students, mainly freshman, showcased their poetry to students, teachers, friends and family members.

“It was really great to see everyone was paying attention and being supportive. My mom was there and she was really proud of me. When I performed it was exciting, I felt like I was setting free the butterflies that were in my stomach,” said freshman, TinaMaria Kouridakis.

The event was organized by English teacher Ms. Marks in order for students to express their creativity through spoken-word poetry. It was open for all students to attend.

“The students were working on a poetry unit that focused on making a plan about their future. They read non-fiction articles, thought about where they would be in five years and what it would be like to work and go to college. They learned a very challenging genre, spoken-word poetry, which is very different from writing poetry, but they loved it. They really wanted to showcase their work and we decided to have the poetry slam,” said Ms. Marks.

“It [was] exciting to watch people read poems, we’ve never had anything like that before. I really liked how the poetry was relatable too,” said 7th grader, Sarah Bae.

The idea arose when junior, Abigail Bogle performed an original poem at the talent show back in December. Students from the 9th grade thought that it would be a great idea to perform their own work as well.

“It was interesting to see everyone who expressed themselves through that form of writing. Though they may have not been familiar with it, most of them had some real talent,” said junior, Abigail Bogle.

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