Slam Poet’s Throw Down

Submitted by jennifer.dunn on

April was National Poetry Month. To celebrate poetry SJHS and individual English classes decided to host poetry slams. The SJHS school slam was hosted on April 27 after school at 2:00. A poetry slam is a competition using elimination rounds for the reading or performance of poetry. The top 15 finalist for the school poetry slam, get to go to a District slam and perform their poems. According to Ms. Pina, an English teacher at SJHS, the poetry slams were a chance for students to show off their own poems. Ms. Pina, Ms. Bass, Ms. Jensen, Ms. Ottley, Ms. Maughan and Ms. Dunn, all English teachers at SJHS, hosted individual class poetry slams. 

According to Grace Ashby, a seventh grade student at SJHS, she thought the class slam was a fun opportunity to express herself in front of the whole class and not be judged. Nathan Ewing, a seventh grade student at SJHS in Ms. Pina’s class, said, “If you haven’t tried a poetry slam before, you should try it at least once.” According to Caleb Patten, an eighth grade student in Ms. Bass’ class, he liked getting up in front of the class and reciting his poem.

According to Savannah Bloom, a seventh grade student at SJHS and a finalist for the district poetry slam, it was hard remembering every individual part of her poem and not stuttering. Tevita Hill, a seventh grade finalist for the district slam at SJHS, said, “The poetry slam was a great event for kids to come and present a poem to their friends and school mates.” According to Tivita Hill, actually writing the poem was the hardest part, because he wanted to make the poem meaningful and worthwhile.

 According to Gavin Jones, a seventh grade finalist for the district slam at SJHS, he was nervous for the slam because there was a big crowed looking at you, and you had to put yourself out there in a really vulnerable position. Gavin Jones said, “It was a really good experience.”

Attributions
Kennedy Huston; SJHS Staff Writer