School Desk

Ready, set, rhyme

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Schools are encouraging students to get lyrical with their learning this April in honor of National Poetry Month.

At the Sheila Mencher Van Cortlandt Village School, PS/MS 95, middle school students are preparing to perform their work aloud during the school’s Poetry Café on Friday, April 19.

PS/MS 95 teams seized first and second place in this year’s Bronx Writes competition. Through Bronx Writes, one of the many arts programs the Bronx-based DreamYard Project brings to public schools, students have been working on imagery, rhythm and time sequencing.

The year-long residency brings professional poets into classrooms to collaborate with teachers and to instruct children how to write and perform poetry. Schools compete in poetry slams, a format in which students recite their work with an emphasis on vocal inflection and gesturing. They’re judged on both content and delivery.

Lirim Ramosaj, the school’s reigning laureate, credited his poetry coach and PS/MS 95 curriculum expert Brandi Nankivel with helping him learn to express himself. Lirim said he’s learned to “go out there and not be shy,” which he hopes will help him break into the acting business.

Also in honor of Poetry Month, three-time U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky will visit Horace Mann on April 16. 

Students have been asked to rehearse their favorite verses. Mr. Pinsky is known for his Favorite Poem Project, which publishes video clips of Americans reciting their favorite poems. 

Ethical Culture Fieldston School recently published student poems about superstorm Sandy in their middle school’s literary magazine.

Several schools have planned poetry slams, including Riverdale Country School, DeWitt Clinton High School and the New Visions Charter High School for the Humanities. 

Competitions will continue into May, thanks to Community Board 8’s Youth Committee, which has organized an inaugural poetry slam competition at the Kingsbridge library on May 23.

Erik “Advocate of Wordz” Maldonado, a professional poet and published author, will emcee the contest from 6 to 8 p.m.

ps/ms 95, bronx writes competition, poetry month, national achievement scholarships, sarina trangle
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