AfterSchool Poets, Egremont School, Pittsfield, MA

As Poet-in-Residence at Egremont elementary School, I found children who were excited about writing poetry and about sharing their work.

As my residency was coming to an end, I found myself reluctant to give up the workshops that gave the children the opportunity to write in an environment free of expectations and judgments - an environment in which the children supported and enjoyed each other. Children who may not have known each other in school got to know each other as poets. We were granted funding by The Berkshire Bank Foundation and the Pittsfield branch of The Massachusetts Cultural Council and began The AfterSchool Poets program. I ran the program at Egremont for grades 4 and 5 and at other schools and centers from 2001 through 2008 when funding became difficult to find.

At the end of our first school year together at Egremont, Billy Collins, US Poet Laureate in 2001-2003, was scheduled to read in Stockbridge. I'd been reading his work to the children. They loved his poems. I wrote to him about The AfterSchool Poets. He called to say he was looking forward to meeting the children. Standing together in the front of a long line of people waiting to speak to him, Billy Collins signed the books they brought and they talked about poetry -- his and theirs. He gave them a limited edition lithograph of one of his poems for the school. It was an exciting day.

At the end of each session, the AfterSchool Poets read at a coffee house packed with family and friends. They were confident and self-assured as they read their poems to the audiences. They were supportive and proud of themselves and one another.

We held events called Pizza and Poetry at the school where, after the Poets read, the entire audience of children and adults ate pizza, wrote poetry in groups and shared their writings with an enthusiastic and fun-filled audience.

The workshops had always been about the children finding their inner voices - the ones that could help them know themselves, the ones they would be able to access when they needed them. The children wrote in silence, in private spaces they found in the room and - in this silence - they each learned to hear their own voice and to write from that place. They were then able to share what they'd written with their poet friends.

In the program, the children learned to trust themselves and each other. When the first group of AfterSchool Poets moved on to middle school, at their request and with the support of the principal, I met with them periodically at their new school during their first year.

Mei Mei wrote this poem as she was experiencing her first days at the new school:

My Little Voice

By:

Mei Mei Robinson

A little voice tells me "you have to trust

me, it will be all right! Even though I have

not experienced what you have, I know

how you feel by the way you act.

A school is a school, it is you who

decides how you feel about it

If you put a lot of pressure on yourself

then you make it harder for you to try to like it "

My little voice that is giving me advice is my

spirit, and my conscience.

It is the one that makes me confident

and tells me what's right from wrong

Williamstown Youth Center, Williamstown, MA

I led an AfterSchool Poetry group at the Williamstown Youth Center. All children at the center were welcome to join each class. The children ranged from 2nd grade through 6th. Though some came periodically, others formed a core group of committed children who came to every session. They were dedicated to their writing. Age seemed to make no difference. They respected each other as poets.

Thank You
by R

I scoop lost, distant memories,
Ones I thought were gone,
Out of the back of my mind,
To sift out the fibers of thought,
To spin them into words,
To weave the words into poems.

Feelings slip from my hand to the page,
I barely feel my hand dart around the paper,
I know nothing but my poem,
My thoughts,
Myself.

"“This year’s Gold Star projects demonstrate how arts and culture contribute to healthier, stronger communities,” says MCC Chair Elyse Cherry.  “We’re delighted to recognize these exceptional initiatives.”

AfterSchool Poets Honored as Outstanding Community Arts Project

Pittsfield Cultural Council has announced that the Massachusetts Cultural Council’s (MCC) has honored The AfterSchool Poets by awarding a Gold Star to the program for excellence in community arts and culture.

The Gold Star Program annually recognizes model community arts, humanities, and science projects funded by the 329 Local Cultural Councils (LCCs) across the state. These projects celebrate diversity, foster collaboration, showcase artistic excellence, and provide learning experiences for people of all ages and backgrounds.

The AfterSchool Poets is one of 11 programs throughout the state to earn a Gold Star designation. Funding from the Pittsfield Cultural Council supported the initiative.