On April 11, 2022, after school in the library, we will be hosting an ELITE Event for National Poetry Month. All materials will be supplied and all students are welcome to attend. Sign up by scanning the QR code on the bottom of the flyer or by clicking here.
It's National Poetry Month and we are celebrating in the Mepham High School Library! On Monday, April 11th join us after school in the library to make your own Library Card Poem. Don't know what that means? Neither do we. It can be anything you want it to be. We will supply old-fashioned library cards and writing implements (pen, pencil, marker, crayon, colored pencil, etc.) and you write down your poem. When you are finished, you can take it with you or we can display it in the library. Perhaps you will write a sonnet or a haiku. It's entirely up to you!
About National Poetry Month:
Launched by the Academy of American Poets in April 1996, National Poetry Month reminds the public that poets have an integral role to play in our culture and that poetry matters. Over the years, it has become the largest literary celebration in the world, with tens of millions of readers, students, K–12 teachers, librarians, booksellers, literary events curators, publishers, families, and—of course—poets, marking poetry's important place in our lives.
National Poetry Month was inaugurated by the Academy of American Poets in 1996. Over the years, it has become the largest literary celebration in the world with schools, publishers, libraries, booksellers, and poets celebrating poetry’s vital place in our culture.
There are many ways to participate. Here are just a few:
Follow the thousands of National Poetry Month celebrations taking place using #npm17 and follow the Academy of American Poets on Twitter @POETSorg.
Attend Poetry & the Creative Mind, a celebration of poetry from the reader’s perspective featuring leading and luminary actors, artists, and public figures, on April 19, 2017, in New York City.
Come join us in Mepham's MakerSpace for Blackout Poetry. Students will be ripping pages out of old books and creating original poetry by blacking out words on the page. All materials are provided. You can share your poetry by posting it on our bulletin board.
Blackout Poetry will take place on Monday, April 3, 2017 at 2:15 in the school library. This ELITE event is sponsored by Mepham's National English Honor Society. All are welcome to attend. You can sign up here.
Submit your original poetry, short stories, essays, artwork, or photography on the topic "Vision" to win a prize and the chance to be published in Fragments, Mepham's literary magazine. The deadline is Thursday, April 20th. Place all entries in Mrs. Maresca's mailbox or email them to FragmentsEmail@gmail.com.
Come join us in the school library on Monday, May 23rd at 2:30 pm to participate in an afternoon of Spine Poetry. What is Spine Poetry, you ask? Well, you take the title of books which appear on the spine label and place them on top of each other to create poetry. When you have completed a poem, Ms. Stack will come around to take a photo of your poem. The photographs will then be displayed in the library and on this blog.
We got this idea from Jennifer Freedman at the Lindenhurst Middle School Library. Remember to always cite your sources! Here are some Google Photos of their Spine Poetry.
Everyone is invited to attend this ELITE event. Sign up here.
UPDATE: Spine Poetry was a ton of fun. We could have stayed all night creating and recreating poems from our bookshelves. Below are photos of some of the poems created from the titles of books.
The Academy of American Poets for National Poetry Month 2016, presents Dear Poet, a multimedia education project that invites young people in grades 5-12 to write letters in response to poems written and read by seven of the award-winning poets who serve on the Academy of American Poets Board of Chancellors: Linda Gregerson, Juan Felipe Herrera, Jane Hirshfield, Marilyn Nelson, Alicia Ostriker, Alberto Ríos, and Anne Waldman.
Students—to participate in this year’s Dear Poet project, watch the videos here (scroll down) of Chancellors reading and discussing one of their poems. Then, write them a letter in response and send it by post or email to the Academy of American Poets, 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038 or dearpoet@poets.org by April 30, 2016. Please include your name and the name of the poet to whom you’ve written. We will consider all letters for publication on Poets.org in May 2016. And our Chancellors will reply to select letters of their choosing.
The Academy of American Poets founded National Poetry Month in April 1996 with an aim to:
highlight the extraordinary legacy and ongoing achievement of American poets,
encourage the reading of poems,
assist teachers in bringing poetry into their classrooms,
increase the attention paid to poetry by national and local media,
encourage increased publication and distribution of poetry books, and
encourage support for poets and poetry.
One way that we are celebrating here at W.C. Mepham High School is by reciting a short (45-second or less) poem over the PA system each Monday and Friday morning during the month of April.
You can also follow the thousands of National Poetry Month celebrations taking place using #npm16 and follow the Academy of American Poets on Twitter @POETSorg.
The Voice Poetry Slam Competition will take place Monday, May 18th during periods 8 and 9 in the auditorium. Share your love of the spoken word!
Round 1: Blind Live Auditions - Students will recite their original poem for the judges/coaches during the Blind Live Auditions and they will turn around to choose competitors to be on their teams. Each participant will be placed on a team.
Round 2: Battle Round - Students will form teams, led by each judge. As a team, the students and judge will review the second (themed) poem - "The Letter Never Delivered" - submitted by each student and choose one team member to represent the team with their themed poem. The representatives from each team will “battle” by reciting their themed poems to see who is the best slam poet.
*Students in audience vote at the end. Winners will be chosen based on audience voting. Update: Photos below from the event.
Come join us for A Picnic Under the Stars at this year's Open Mic Night, which has been rescheduled for Thursday,March 26th at 7:00 pm in the West Cafeteria. Come read a poem or sing a song. Everyone is welcome to attend. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased from a Fragments member or at the door.
Seniors, Meghan Corless and Andrew Montalti from Ms. Sirof's class are the victors!
Update:Thank you so much for attending Mepham’s first Poetry Games. The sixteen students who participated as tributes and the modest and dedicated audience made yesterday’s ELITE event an enjoyable one. We had an opportunity to showcase the talents of students who may not always be recognized, and for that, we should be incredibly proud. Additionally, we were able to raise over 600 books for the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization!
Without further ado, below are the results of the first Pirates Poetry Games:
3rd Place = District F. Cooney – Melissa Ponton & Matthew Brown (Freshmen)
2nd Place = District Atkins – Laiba Qurashi (Junior)
AND … DRUM ROLL …….
1st Place = District Sirof – Meghan Corless & Andrew Montalti (Seniors)
Please congratulate all the tributes – we had some incredibly powerful original poems read yesterday!
In honor of National Poetry Month, Mepham High School and the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District will be hosting its first annual Poetry Games. Inspired by the novel, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, The Poetry Games is an event meant to encourage students to appreciate their love of the spoken word and to prove their district’s poetic prowess to the Capitol.
The Poetry Games will take place in two stages:
Stage one: School-wide Poetry Games. This competition will determine the male and female tributes who will represent Mepham High School in Bellmore-Merrick’s district-wide Poetry Games. The Pirates Poetry Games will be held after school onThursday, April 24, 2014from approximately 2:30-3:30 pm in the auditorium.
Opening
Ceremony:
Parading
of tributes
A
brief interview will take place to introduce the tributes partaking in the
event – includes discussion of literary attire/influences
Judges
will score the opening ceremony on a 0 – 5 point scale based on originality,
content, and presentation
1st
Round of the Games: Expression of Knowledge Competition
Students
will take their mark on stage behind desks, tables, or podiums
Students
will respond via a tech tool to five (5) questions that test their prowess with
poetry (ex. application, style, definition, poets, etc.)
2nd
Round of the Games: Prepared Poetry Battle
Students
will read an original poem to the audience
In
preparation for this round, students will randomly select an envelope which
contains 15 words and a “weapon” of choice, or a poetic technique, to apply in
their poem
Judges
will score the poems on a 0 – 5 point scale based on originality, content, and
presentation
3rd
Round of the Games: Book Wars
The
district which collects the largest number of books to donate to First Book or
World Book Night will be awarded points
Sponsors: the audience will act as “sponsors” who will
vote via Twitter to give their favorite tributes points toward the final score
Closing
Ceremony: the victors of The Pirates Poetry Games will be announced and awards
will be granted (donated by the National English Honor Society)
The Ghost on the Wind was originally written in 2005 by Alfred H. Lockamy for the East Carolina Pirates, which are the intercollegiate sports teams
representing East Carolina University (ECU) in Greenville, North Carolina. According to the ECU website, "This poem, composed by Alfred H. Lockamy, is read as as a welcome message prior to the start of ECU home sporting events." The poem was read by Ms. Geller's Leadership Class in honor of Poem in Your Pocket Day, which is a sponsored ELITE event.
The Ghost on The Wind
Like a ghost on the wind
He comes from the sea,
And trembles the foe
Like a storm on the lee.
With swashbuckling swagger
And a Jolly Roger laugh,
He flies the black flag
On a whalebone staff.
He has a black-patched eye
And a ring in his ear,
And on his wind-burned face,
A crusty-grizzled beard.
With a bone-cold glare
And a sneer on his lip,
He has a cannon by his side
And a cutlass in his grip.
With a thunderous blast
From his cannon's might,
He shivers the strong
And cripples their fight.
He takes what he's lost
And turns it to gold,
For He's crafty and shrewd
And He's fearless and bold.
He's dashing and daring,
A fierce buccaneer,
For the sight of his plunder
Pales many with fear.
From East Carolina (changed to "From Bellmore, New York")
Victories are told (changed to "The stories they say")
Of the Spirit of the Pirate
And his purple and gold! (changed to "And his garnet and gray!")
In celebration of National Poetry Month, Mepham's ELITE Program is hosting Poem in Your Pocket Day on Wednesday, April 24, 2013 at 2:15 p.m. Join in the excitement by carrying a poem in your pocket. You can write your own poem or borrow one from your favorite poet; just make sure to share it with your friends, family, and colleagues. Mepham’s Poem in Your Pocket Day will offer a range of poetry-inspired activities for students to enjoy after school in the library.
Celebrate the first national Poem In Your Pocket Day!
We celebrated last year with our Poet-Tree and had a blast.
The idea is simple: select a poem you love during National Poetry Month then carry it with you to share with fellow students, family, and friends on April 17th (Happy Birthday Mom!).
Poems from pockets will be unfolded throughout the day. If you stop by at the school library and show us your Poem in Your Pocket you will be handsomely rewarded!
National Poetry Month was established by the Academy of American Poets as a month-long, national celebration of poetry. In our school library we have a "Poet Tree." Bring in any original poem and your name will be added to a leaf and placed on our tree. Let's see how many leaves our tree will produce this spring!
Check out these websites: Poets.org from the Academy of American Poets - daily poems, poet biographies, discussion forums on writing, audio, and don't forget to sign up for a poem each day in your inbox during the month of April.
Teen Poetry Wiki from the Internet Public Library for Teens - express yourself freely in words and find new ways to do it.
Wordsmiths from the New York Public Library- an anthology of writing by teens (ages 12-18) on the Web.
Just like our Website, this is a place to showcase information about upcoming events, resources, authors, research, and the Internet. As always, I look forward to seeing you in the library and sharing your ideas.
In celebration of National Poetry Month, Mepham's ELITE Program is hosting Poem in Your Pocket Day on Wednesday, April 24, 2013 at 2:15 p.m. Join in the excitement by carrying a poem in your pocket. You can write your own poem or borrow one from your favorite poet; just make sure to share it with your friends, family, and colleagues. Mepham’s Poem in Your Pocket Day will offer a range of poetry-inspired activities for students to enjoy after school in the library.
Celebrate the first national Poem In Your Pocket Day!
National Poetry Month was established by the Academy of American Poets as a month-long, national celebration of poetry. In our school library we have a "Poet Tree." Bring in any original poem and your name will be added to a leaf and placed on our tree. Let's see how many leaves our tree will produce this spring!
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