By Jess Lepore ‘13
Kylie Rotanelli ‘13
Carly Goroff ‘13
Cristin Yakush ‘13
EE Staff Writers
Curiosity permeated throughout Trumbull High as students began to notice numerous posters reading “Be Ready.” The message was unclear until Tuesday, November 27th, better known as “Launch Day,” when students in white t-shirts flooded the hallways. This marked the opening of the Poetry Project to the public.
The Poetry Project is a movement started by the senior poetry classes in order to spread interest of poetry to students of all grades and promote the new website. The website, www.thspoetry.com, is intended for students to submit poems, become familiar with poetry, and acquire tips on writing poems as well. It is an interactive site including pictures and videos of poetry.
“We want to get the whole school involved because people think that writing or submitting poetry is only for students who take the class. Some people are even scared of it,” said senior poetry teacher Mrs. Garcia.
The movement may seem simple, but there is a lot more that goes into it than meets the eye. It all started on October 18th, 2012 when all three poetry classes met in the auditorium for an in-school field trip. The students were split into three different groups, each with a different purpose. The teams included student teachers, marketing and design team, and launch crew.
The launch team was responsible for getting the word out. They worked with the marketing team to put up posters and flyers. The marketing team was responsible for generating ideas in order to get the word out. They designed the t-shirts and involved students and classes.
“We had to think of ways to advertise that would appeal to high school students because when people first see the word poetry, they don’t exactly get excited,” said senior Holly Hoffmann, a part of the marketing team.
The most talked about team was the student teachers. The poetry students went into English classrooms of all grades with prepared lesson plans in hopes of getting kids involved and spreading interest.
Mrs. Acerbo, a teacher who had poetry students come into her classroom said, “I thought it was great. I had really dynamic student teachers who knew a lot about the subject of poetry. My students were inspired and wrote some amazing poems.”
The students of Mrs. Acerbo’s class also enjoyed it. “I liked it better than anything else we would have done in class. I really liked the examples they showed,” stated junior MJ Cesare.
“Overall it has been a big success. We have had teachers tell us how well it went and how much their students really enjoyed it. You may not know your changing lives in the process of teaching, but you could really be affecting the student in the long run. We hope to expand and get even more classes involved for next year,” said Mrs. Garcia.
The poetry movement is taking over THS. Watch out for the students in the white t-shirts. Your class very well may be next.