CHS students write creative poems for Poetry Month

You might not be aware of it, but April was National Poetry Month.

Poets.org reports it was “inaugurated by the Academy of American Poets in 1996 and has become the largest literary celebration in the world with schools, publishers, libraries, booksellers, and poets celebrating poetry's vital place in our culture.”

Schools across the nation celebrated with a wide range of associated events and activities. For example, “Poem in Your Pocket Day” involves students selecting poems and carrying them around throughout the day, sharing with others.

Educators had special guests, from local celebrities to parents, who come to schools throughout the day, sharing poetry with students.

This year Poetry Month overlapped with National Library Week, and Clovis High School had its own set of activities for students in the CHS Library.

Head Librarian Jenny Blaylock developed various promotions to encourage English classes to bring students to the library.

A “Poetry Creation Station” was set up for students to create poems from cut-out word snippets (magazines and newspapers). Students assembled their own stories in the form of graphic poems and mounted on large boards on easels.

It was great to see high school students digging through the materials, chatting animatedly with one another as their creative poems emerged.

Luckily, staff and student helpers had cut up plenty of phrases, including a plethora of prepositions, nouns, and adverbs to provide adequate resources.

The CHS Library also gave away candy for checking out a book, held new book giveaways throughout the day, and cut library fines in half. Blaylock believes the library should be a welcome place for students to gather.

Since classroom buildings are locked before school and at lunch, the only indoor places for students to go if they want to read or just hang out are the cafeteria or the library. Blaylock shared, “Most days when I arrive at 7:30 a.m., there’s a handful of students, and as soon as I unlock, another handful arrives. We probably average about 30 students before school and during lunch.”

Also, thanks to the CMS Education Foundation, the “Library Learning Commons” with its comfy furniture, device charging stations, and oversized TV screen, looping student-created book trailers, is a student draw.

American Poet Allen Ginsberg noted: “Poetry is the one place where people can speak their original human mind. It is the outlet for people to say in public what is known in private.”

Cindy Kleyn-Kennedy is the instructional technology coordinator for the Clovis Municipal Schools. She can be reached at: [email protected]