Day 148 - BHS Poets are Louder Than a Bomb! Mrs. Janovitz - BHS English Dept.

The Burlington High School slam team recently competed in the 2017 Massachusetts Louder Than a Bomb teen poetry festival organized by MassLEAP, a Boston-based group of education and youth voice activists. This annual poetry slam festival has been the highlight of the year for Poetic Ramblings poets since we started participating three years ago. The theme for this year’s festival was “Raise Your Voice,” which pretty much embodies all that our poets love about LTAB.

Slam Team Heads to the Preliminaries

The competitive part of the festival includes two days of preliminary bouts, which took place this year at the Sheraton Boston, one night of semifinals, which was hosted by the Edward Kennedy Center, and the final slam, which happened last Saturday night at the Strand Theater in Dorchester. While the BHS slam team scored well and made it as far as the semifinals in this year’s competition, as the MassLEAP mantra goes, “The point is not the points. The point is the poetry.” This series of events provides students with an opportunity to share their thoughts on everything that is important to them, and to have those thoughts and feelings validated by a community of young scholar artists who really value inclusivity. The students involved in this festival authentically support each other, which is essential. As BHS junior Laura Prendergast stated, “It’s really important to feel like you belong, and this event really covers that. There is always something you can relate to whether it be the poetry or the people. LTAB is important because people get to break out of their shell to share what truly means the most to them in their most creative way.” Senior Laura Frustaci described her experience as a first-time LTAB participant by focusing on the “communal feel” of the event. She added, “It allowed me to work with a diverse group of people. I got to see their passions, some of which were my passions as well. We converged, shared experiences, and ideas. I learned from them. I became part of this big, welcoming community.”

Students Collaborating on Group Poems

The community aspect of this series is inspiring to say the least, but another important component of the festival is its diversity. Students from all over Massachusetts, from all different backgrounds and experiences, share a stage, and the crowd’s response to each and every poet’s performance is evidence that everyone in the room values each individual’s story. Aysha Afzal, senior and three-time LTAB performer, stated, “What I really like about the event is that it exposes me to a lot of people from various ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds that I don’t see that much of in Burlington High School. I think it’s a very important event because it sets an example of what social emotional learning can do; it turns a group of people of completely different backgrounds into a family in a matter of 2 hours. Every time I go to LTAB, I feel empowered to use my voice as a tool for change, and when I see other people’s performances, it prompts me to push my poetic boundaries and become a stronger poet.”

We can’t thank MassLEAP enough for organizing and running this annual event. From the opening ceremony at the ICA to the Rethinking High School event at the Sheraton, they showed our students the importance of youth voice and gave them a space to share it.

Take a moment to check out the BHS Poetic Ramblers’ festival poems below.

Aysha Afzal: Unnecessary Background

Julianna Grossman: Puzzling



Laura Frustaci: The Only Way to Stay Safe


Group Poem: America Must Reckon

NOTE: The title and choral line from this poem was inspired by President Obama’s Statement on the Shooting in Charleston, South Carolina.

All members of the poetry club worked to compose the group piece and four students (Aysha Afzal, senior; Jessie Goober, sophomore; Laura Frustaci, senior; Sasha Festi, sophomore) performed it.

To catch a glimpse of the energy, passion, and love involved in LTAB MA, head to Twitter and Instagram (#LTABMA2017), or check out MassLEAP’s social media pages: Twitter @MassLeap, Instagram massleap, Facebook @massleap.

Day 148 - Student Day of Poetry Inspires Imaginations - Callie Graham - BHS English Dept.

This post first appeared on the BHS Poetic Ramblings Blog

BHS students attended Mass Poetry’s Student Day of Poetry on Friday, April 29 in beautifully historic Salem, MA. The event kickstarted the Massachusetts Poetry Festival.

Students were able to select and attend two writing-generative workshops. Workshops attended by BHS students and staff included:

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BEAST MODE: BE A BEAST Jamele Adams aka Harlym 1two5 | Salem Five Community Room

By the time we are done, we would have moved the world a little bit and reimagined the lines by which poetry is defined. Writing is the spark that ignites flames of thought; thus your poetry leaves a trail of blue flames-the core of any fire. A kaleidoscope of creativity unleashed and unveiled “write” from you. Let us begin.

GREAT NEWS! Jennifer Jean | Hawthorne Library

“It is difficult/ to get the news from poems,” wrote poet William Carlos Williams, “Yet men die miserably every day/ for lack/ of what is found there.” In this workshop we’re going to make it easy for folks to get the news from poems—we’re going to write our own “poem-responses” to items featured in the global news. Not only will you learn about free-verse- poetry-writing- basics in this workshop (about how to write poems containing:  potent language, vivid imagery and powerful lines), we’ll also discuss example poem-responses, various approaches to the poem-response, as well as the biggest news items of the day.

GET YOUR ODE ON Laurin Macios | Hawthorne Ballroom – Room 1

There are few things more satisfying than talking about what we love. Writing about what we love might be one of them! Whether it’s a person, possession, food, or a value, cause, or moral you hold dear, let’s explore and glorify it together in this workshop on odes. We will read poems by Pablo Neruda, Sharon Olds, and more, for inspiration.

POETRY AND POP CULTURE M.P. Carver | Hawthorne Essex

This workshop will focus on contemporary poets dealing with contemporary issues.  We’ll discuss what makes a “good” subject for a poem, and read and discuss a variety of poems by poets writing now incorporating all kinds of modern references from Ke$ha to the war in Syria to twitter.  At the end of the workshop, we’ll try and write some poems of our own!

GAME OF POEMS: IMPROVISATION, CHANCE, AND SURREALIST PLAY IN POETRY Noah Burton | Hawthorne Ballroom – Room 2

From painters and musicians to inventors of ancient sports and third generation video games, play and experimentation has always been an energetic core at the center of any creative work—it leaps and throws, laughs and dives, all while trying to keep up with the speed of our imaginations. In this workshop we will look at and try out a handful of different games and obstacle courses that poets have played and ran through to craft wonderfully adventurous poems.

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“It was very educational and taught me a lot about writing and the writing process. I also enjoyed the opportunity to express my creativity,” freshman Sasha Festi said.

The event also offered students a chance to hear poets read and discuss their work.  The culminating moment of the day was an open-mic session during which students could read poems they had begun drafting throughout the day in front of a large audience. Senior Timmy Sullivan, freshman Julianna Grossman, senior Lorraine Kanyike, and senior Gabby Goullette were selected to share their original pieces.  Bout organizer Tony Toledo bestowed each one with a coin to commemorate the experience.

Attendance at the event also guaranteed students a free pass to attend all of the weekend’s festivities. A full schedule of events can be seen here.