An April Celebration Mash-Up

In April, the Middle School celebrated National Poetry Month and Earth Day by weaving poetry and ecology into the fabric of everyday life at Crossroads. Students explored language, self expression, nature and sustainability through interdisciplinary academic projects, plus a full slate of activities outside of their classes, in spaces across the 21st Street Campus. 

 

To kick things off, poet and Crossroads co-founder Paul Cummins joined a seventh grade Town Hall to talk about his writing process and the power of poetry. He also told stories about his life and education and about the School’s early years. 

 

Nearly every day throughout the month, Middle School students had the opportunity to take part in innovative lunchtime activities that approached poetry from different perspectives. Students and faculty read poems from the Middle School balcony, typewriters in the Alley beckoned students to tap out spontaneous verse and a giant whiteboard in the Butterfly Garden offered a venue to respond to poetic prompts. Professional poet and Crossroads parent Melody Godfred invited students to write a word on an index card, from which she drew inspiration to write them a personal poem. 

 

At Poetry and Pizza workshops, faculty engaged students with a variety of writers and themes. Core Teacher Liam Considine ’98 introduced American poet Frank O’Hara and students wrote poems inspired by his work. Upper School Art Teacher Solomon Turner discussed the relationship between poetry and visual art. Students also delved into how Los Angeles, as a city and an ecosystem, might spark ideas for poetry with Core Teacher Paige Parsons and compiled many of the month’s poems into a zine titled “A Love Letter to LA.” 

This multifaceted approach to National Poetry Month was the brainchild of Paige and fellow Core Teacher Todd Baron. “Poetry should not be relegated to a day, a week, or a month, or a year—and this year surpassed all those boundaries,” said Todd. “In my Core class, we spearheaded readings, writings, hearings…We even had poets writing in the Alley, in a way that truly celebrated and engendered poetry.”  

The celebration culminated at the Middle School’s annual Family Science Night, on May 2, where a Poetry Cafe was created in the library for students to read their work. Todd shared, “Attended by a full house, it indeed evoked the idea that ‘poetry is news...we need it every day.’"