Niles North is giving its students the opportunity to express their voices through its first Annual Poetry Slam on Tuesday, May 22.
Poetry Slam is a competition and a celebration of poetry that allows students to perform their original poetry.
Due to student enthusiasm for spoken word poetry at a joint Poetry Slam with students from Glenbrook South, English teacher William Sullivan, sponsor of Outspoken, the Niles North poetry club, and Scott Bramley, coordinator of the Literacy Center, decided to host a poetry slam at Niles North.
Due to student enthusiasm for spoken word poetry at a joint Poetry Slam with students from Glenbrook South, English teacher William Sullivan, sponsor of Outspoken, the Niles North poetry club, and Scott Bramley, coordinator of the Literacy Center, decided to host a poetry slam at Niles North.
Sullivan has been working with young Chicago authors and the founder of Poetry Slam, Marc Kelly
Smith. Sullivan also persuaded several local poets to work with North English teachers to promote and encourage spoken poetry.
The main purpose of this Poetry Slam is to “give people who are often silenced the space to express their voices,” Bramley said.
“We want to get the kids excited about their own voices; everybody has a voice and a story to tell, and everybody’s story is valid. They just need to believe it,” Sullivan said. “The only thing we are looking for is for stories to be performed and read with emotion and passion…”
At the Poetry Slam, about 20 students will be performing in two rounds in the Codell Commons. Also, there will be sacrificial poets, and a guest speaker.
The main purpose of this Poetry Slam is to “give people who are often silenced the space to express their voices,” Bramley said.
“We want to get the kids excited about their own voices; everybody has a voice and a story to tell, and everybody’s story is valid. They just need to believe it,” Sullivan said. “The only thing we are looking for is for stories to be performed and read with emotion and passion…”
At the Poetry Slam, about 20 students will be performing in two rounds in the Codell Commons. Also, there will be sacrificial poets, and a guest speaker.
“At first, I did not know about it until a lot of people recommended it to me, and I saw all the posters and the fliers about it. I used to do a lot of poetry before becoming interested in rapping so I decided to join, ” junior Anthony ‘Certified’ Dagher said. “In all honesty, I think that this idea of Poetry Slam is amazing because it is giving people a stage to let their feelings be heard in a beautiful unique way.”
Students can still apply to participate in the slam. The only criteria are to have two poems ready to perform and for “these poems to be real, authentic; they have to be from experience… from the heart,” Bramley said.
To sign up to compete in Niles North Poetry Slam, please click here or visit the Point’s Website.
