Tuesday, April 13, 2010
All of My Favorite Things Rolled into One Day!
As much as I complain about the type of students at my school and their pervasive apathy and rudeness, there are a few rare days when I feel a glimmer of hope that the future is not entirely lost, when I see a spark of what makes high school great, when the type of student I was is reflected in the students I see before me.
One of the days I am inspired and rejuvenated and genuinely glad to be in school with these kids is the day of the annual Jazz and Poetry Festival. This 'festival' is really just a day, and it usually falls in April (which is National Poetry Month, National Jazz Month, andNational Library Month, hence the inspiration for the festival date) though this year it fell in March due to PSSA scheduling for April, but everything about it is fantastic and wonderful.
This year I spent most of my day at the festival because I signed up to bring all 3 of my classes to it (though block 3 was full so I couldn't bring them, so we had our own little mini-festival in my room after lunch where we just read poetry from online) and I went down during my plan period to enjoy some more.
When you walk into the transformed library--decorated with string lights, a trellis, and candles, and emptied of computers-- the jazz band, a very talented group of students, is grooving under the tutelage of Jason, the band director. Then, it's time for the poetry to start. Rob, the English department chair who co-organizes this event, and Melody and Michelle, the other co-organizers, introduce the readers. One by one, students get up and read--or recite or perform!--a poem. At the end of the session, the jazz band plays another piece as students leave the library.
This year, it felt like the festival was made for me and my students because the focus of each session contained something relevant to something we'd just studied.
Rob opened the first session about "ordinary things," sharing how poems about ordinary, everyday things have been in existence for hundreds of years, from the time the Anglo-Saxons would sit around their fires after pillaging and warring and would compose poems about everyday objects. (As it were, my class had spent part of the previous week reviewing these very poems!)
During the second session, when I was in attendance with my honors class just a day after finishing our satire unit, Jason led the jazz band in its performance of a satirical jazz piece! He set the stage telling the students the back story on its creation. It involved Plessy v Ferguson (the "separate but equal" ruling) and how when racial integration actually came around, the Arkansas governor mobilized the National Guardagainst the African-American students who were attempting to attend school! The satirical piece by Mingus has a repeated 'dum dum dum' sound running through the background to mock the idiocy of the people.
Other highlights, which made me laugh and cry (yes, actual tears) and marvel:
During one session, 2 boys got up and recited (from memory!) Whitman's "O Captain, My Captain." They did a little staging, whereby they started off standing side by side with their hands clasped behind their backs. Then, as the first boy recited the first stanza, he stepped forward. At the end of his stanza, he stepped back. The second boy stepped forward to recite the second stanza, at the end of which the first boy stepped forward next to the other boy and they recited the third stanza in unison. It was brilliant!
There was also a fun little ditty of Mary Howitt's "The Spider and the Fly." For this one, 3 girls stood at the front: one took on the role of the spider, one the fly, and one the narrator. The girl who was the fly affected this silly little voice when she would say, "oh no no!" and it was cute.
One of the faculty members--a dude named Bill who is typically a douche--did an interesting reading of a poem with oboe accompaniment. His reading was blah, but the oboe in the background sounded really cool.
Another faculty member--a dude named Mark who is not a douche and who reminds me of my old AP Euro teacher--read 2 poems. I particularly enjoyed his rendition of Dickinson's "I'm Nobody. Who Are You?" because there was something about the way he read it that made the words come to life and made the poem actually make sensein a way that it has never made sense to me in the past.
A girl read Stiles' "The Far Right Corner of Heaven" which is about a dad who passed away and whose child is talking about meeting him in heaven. There was something about the words that made me think of my own dad (who is not dead) and I could picture myself taking solace in the words if he were to pass. I know that sounds weird, but it was just moving.
The 4th session was not like the others. It was held in the auditorium and featured the choir. I went down during my planning period because I didn't want to miss it. Scott, the choral director, set the stage for their performance of Agee's "Sure on This Shining Night." He explained how different arrangements emphasize different aspects of the poem--some giving more attention to the first stanza, others featuring a refrain of the first line, etc--and how the rhythms can vary and how the voices change. Then they performed the first stanza of each arrangement to highlight the difference. Next they sang each song in its entirety. They were all beautiful in their own ways. I cried during the second version when the soloist's lovely voice rang out in the auditorium. It was so beautiful, and I had fond memories of my own experiences in choir.
As someone who loves words and loves music, this day was a dream come true for me. I enjoyed every second of the experience. I relished the sounds being produced by the talented musicians in our school. I soaked in the words of the students who aren't usually in the spotlight because they aren't athletes. I luxuriated in the thought that, for this one day, poetry was being considered "cool" and "fun" and "enjoyable" instead of "lame" and "hard" and "boring." I was giddy and moved and genuinely content. I was proud to be part of the school and honored to be able to experience this event alongside my students and colleagues.
To me, the day was wonderful and magical and... pure poetry.
Labels: good day
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