CMLSF

FEATURED PROGRAM: Poets in the Schools

For the past few years, your Corte Madera Larkspur Schools Foundation donations have gone to support such programs as the California Poets in the Schools (CPITS) for grades K-8. This Foundation program’s primary focus is to encourage students to write, using their imagination, life experience and their own unique perceptions, and create poetry. Our Poet-Teachers are all accomplished writers with diverse cultural and ethnic heritages. CPITS is now the largest writers-in-schools program in the nation.

One of our parents, Diana Putterman, took the time to share her observations in Mr. Shippey’s 5th grade class…

poet in the schools

“As you write, you create yourself again and again”
— Jay Harjo

On a cool and sunny autumn morning, Karen Benke, professional poet, began her class by writing those words on the board. Poets in the Schools brings talented poets into the classroom to work with our students here at Neil Cummins and Hall Middle Schools.

The students seemed to anticipate the magic they were about to enter. This was their third class with Karen, a soft, easily accessible young woman with words at the ready to inspire our seedling poets. She was getting ready to have them write an Ode.

“What’s an Ode?” she asked the class. They responded, “Ode to Joy”… “Something about something happy”… “Praising someone” Aha! She got her answer. “Yes… I want you to think about someone you know… give yourself a lot of space… we’re going to write an Ode about someone you know.”

A voice in the crowd asked, “Could it be an animal? She said, “I’d like it to be a 2-legged.” The kids totally got it. Karen asked the children to think of their person and then imagine that person as a tree, an animal, a color, a direction, a road sign, a sound… What followed was twenty minutes of free association and pure inspiration running rampant in a roomful of 10-year-olds. Everyone was fully engaged, including the teacher, Mr. Shippey. Karen then gently encouraged as many as possible to read their poems. “Your voice is your instrument,” she reminded them.

Here’s a sample of your children’s creativity and your donations at work:

You are a Weeping Willow tree on a Wednesday. You are the waves at dawn.
You are a flower who whispers into the wind, a lonely tiger getting ready to plunge into the couch of despair.
— Mariana

Inside my heart you are like a bear heading north, a cup of steamy coffee…
dancing redwoods swirling and swirling in windy moonlight.
— Quinten

Ask your children about their poetry and read their creations. Their poems are confidence builders and help even the most awkward writers use words to express their thoughts, emotions and ideas, without boundaries. Children’s poetry is not graded; they are only encouraged to use more of their own unique thinking. Additionally, students who may not excel in other language arts may find a renewed sense of ability when writing poetry and actually may be able to express themselves better in poetic form than in any other.

Thank you for your donations. You are Making Choices that Make a Difference.

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