• Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • Linkedin

Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service

Your neighborhood. Your News.

newsMilwaukee NNSMilwaukee NNSSearch
Subscribe to NNS today!
Advertisement
  • Home
  • News
    • Arts and Recreation
    • Community
    • Economic Development
    • Education
    • Health and Wellness
    • Housing
    • Public Safety
    • NNS Spotlight
    • Special Report
  • Posts From Community
    • Submit a Story
  • Community Voices
  • How To
  • Multimedia
    • NNS Local Video
    • Photos
    • NNS on Lake Effect
    • NNS WGLB 1560 Radio
  • Subscribe
  • Donate
  • About
    • Staff
    • Partners
    • News 414
    • The neighborhoods we cover
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service

Diederich College of Communication, Marquette University

You are here: Home / News / Arts and Recreation / High school poetry slam proves ‘poetry is still there’

High school poetry slam proves ‘poetry is still there’

April 25, 2012 by Tessa Fox 1 Comment

Share this...
Share on Facebook
Facebook
Pin on Pinterest
Pinterest
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter
Share on LinkedIn
Linkedin

Rufus King High School student Amy Pelican channels a discharged Marine with post-traumatic stress disorder in her poem. (Photo by Tessa Fox)

“My name is Shaquille Grandberry and I hail from Arts and the title of this poem is called Glamour Shot,” said the slender boy from behind the microphone. He took a deep breath and began his performance.

Poets like Grandberry from Milwaukee High School of the Arts have spent months competing with students from 16 other Milwaukee Public Schools to make it to the Still Waters Collective High School Slam League finals. Other schools in the championship round included Washington High School, Riverside University High School and Rufus King High School.

The students combined spoken word poetry, song and choreographed gestures to address a variety of topics such as religion, music, racial stereotypes, high school relationships, sexual abuse and drug and alcohol addiction.

After each poem, a panel of five judges scored the performance on a 10-point scale. The only scoring criterion was how much each judge enjoyed the performance. The host of the competition, Dan Vaughn, encouraged the audience to cheer, snap and applaud the poets throughout their performances.

“Judges, don’t let the people sway you,” he said. “People, sway the judges.”

After four rounds of poetry, the individual scores from each school were added together to decide the winner. For the third consecutive year, Grandberry and his classmates from Milwaukee High School of the Arts went home with the trophy.

“It’s so liberating to know that poetry is still there,” Grandberry said. “It’s still the same art form it’s always been.”

Championship host Dan Vaughn explains the competition’s rules to first-time poetry slam audience members. (Photo by Tessa Fox)

But the competition was not just about the points; it was about the poetry.

“The biggest thing isn’t the winners or the losers, but how well they communicate the art,” Vaughn said.

Still Waters Collective founder Dasha Kelly said she could not have been happier about the event’s turn-out, despite the dreary weather and a last-minute room change.

“I am probably going to cry myself to sleep with joy tonight,” she said.

Still Waters Collective is an organization that encourages self-expression through creative writing and spoken word poetry. The High School Slam League is one of its community initiatives and programs.

Share this...
Share on Facebook
Facebook
Pin on Pinterest
Pinterest
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter
Share on LinkedIn
Linkedin

Filed Under: Arts and Recreation, Carousel, Education, Home, Neighborhoods, News

Avatar

About Tessa Fox

Comments

  1. AvatarHeather Ronaldson says

    April 25, 2012 at 10:38 am

    GREAT video, girls!! You captured so much emotion. Very well done! :)

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Advertisement

Top Stories

Advertisement

How To …

How residents 65 and older can register for a coronavirus vaccine

Vaccines will be available for those 65 and older as part of Phase 1B of the distribution plan.

More "How To" articles

Advertisement

Recommended Reading

A Vaccine Reality Check

The Atlantic

UWM study on the state of Black Milwaukee describes the city as ‘the epitome of a 21st century racial regime’

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Videos Show How Federal Officers Escalated Violence in Portland

The New York Times

These mayors want to fight Covid-19 and the recession with one big idea: A guaranteed income

Vox

The World John Lewis Helped Create

The Atlantic

News

  • Arts and Recreation
  • Economic Development
  • Education
  • Health and Wellness
  • Housing
  • Public Safety
  • NNS Spotlight
  • Special Reports
  • Multimedia
    • NNS Videos
    • Photos
    • NNS on Lake Effect Radio

Engage with us

  • Posts from Community
  • Community Voices
  • Submit a Story

About NNS

  • Staff
  • Partners
  • News414
  • The neighborhoods we cover
  • Internship opportunities
  • Careers
  • Terms of use
  • Advertise

Connect with us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS feed

Communities

Contact

mailing address
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Diederich College of Communication
Marquette University
1131 W. Wisconsin Ave.
Johnston Hall 430
Milwaukee, WI 53233

email
info@milwaukeenns.org

phone & fax
PHONE: 414.604.6397 FAX: 414.288.6494

Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service is a project of Diederich College of Communication and Marquette University.
© 2020 Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service. Terms of use.
1131 W. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee WI 53233 • info@milwaukeenns.org

Copyright © 2021 · News Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in