Wait? Poetry? In public education?! Madness! Is it safe? What? The children write their own poems?!
It’s true my friends. Everything you heard. Every word. It’s all true. Let me tell you a little about us:
Since 2008, P.I.P.E. has been putting awkward, shy poets in front of classrooms of awkward, shy middle and high school students. The basic protocol is as follows: a teacher meets with the poet beforehand to discuss their students’ needs, and then the poet writes up a specific curriculum tailored to their classroom. Workshops include a combination of performance by the poet, writing exercises, discussion and lessons on poetry, and time for students to share their own work. Just so you know we are serious about it, we wrote a mission statement. It goes like this:
To encourage positive self-expression in students of all ages and abilities, while developing literacy and composition skills and fostering a life-long appreciation for poetry.
P.I.P.E. offers many options for teachers looking to have us in their classrooms, from one-off activities to week-long workshops. If you have questions, or are interested in having us in your classroom, please contact us!
Program Director
Matthew Brouwer
pipe@poetrynight.org
P.I.P.E. is a program of poetrynight, which is a program of the Whatcom Poetry Series, which is a 501(c)(3) non-profit which makes the whole thing pretty fancy.
2 Comments
This is beautiful. I’m a senior in High School and I would have killed to have this while I was still “in” High School since I am a few weeks prior to graduation. But KUDOS. Keep spreading it. This should be everywhere..
I am in fact, not a teacher, but a student, with a love for poetry and writing, and contact you for the case of my peers at Nooksack Valley High School. I have noticed the decrease in the popularity of English as little more than a subject, it as an art being ignored by most of the students, my peers. However, I see a potential amongst them, and I was hoping P.I.P.E. would be capable of encouraging language as an art. Our recent funding deficiency has caused classes like journalism and creative writing to disappear, and I fear that the school is dropping in literary encouragement. I Hope to hear back from you, as I think the Nooksack Valley School District could use a hand in pulling the veil back and revealing language’s true beauty.