While National Poetry month is traditionally held in April, The Pennington community did not have to wait until spring to enjoy an assortment of original student poems. In the last few weeks, both the Upper School and the Middle School were treated to poetry readings, offering a bright spark of creativity to banish the January blues.
First up was an Upper School Poetry Show, featuring students in Bill Hutnik’s semester-long Creative Writing Elective. The class, which is open to both juniors and seniors, explores various writing genres including short stories, poetry, and even stand-up comedy. Over the course of the semester, students in the class were required to write approximately fifteen original poems; each student then selected two of their poems to read aloud at the culminating event, which took place on the Wesley Forum stage in Yen.
To prepare for their own writing, the students looked at other poets, analyzing those techniques as a springboard for their own creations. The class primarily focused on the "beat" poets, like Allen Ginsburg and Lawrence Ferlinghetti, drawing inspiration from poems like “Howl.” The end result was an eclectic mix of topics, including women’s rights, the struggles of adolescence, school shootings, and even pop culture figures like Luke Bryan and Floyd Mayweather, Jr. Regardless of the subjects they chose to work with, each student “grew in confidence over the course of this class, finding their own voice and becoming better public speakers,” said Hutnik.
Over in the Middle School, the Grade 6 students held their own poetry show less than a week later. Calling their event the Sixth-Grade Poetry Reading Extravaganza, students took turns reading the original works they composed during their class’s poetry unit. Since winter break, according to teacher Ryan Totaro, the students had been learning about poetic devices and genres. Among the poems they read were Pablo Neruda’s “Ode to My Socks,” Langston Hughes’ “Harlem,” and Walt Whitman’s “O Captain! My Captain!.”
Following the recitations, students and audience members enjoyed light refreshments and shared some insights into their work. Logan G. ’31 enjoyed being able to write from the perspective of the poem itself and thought that the reading portion was great public speaking practice, while Dylan M. ’31 shared that he “got inspired by the other students.” For Anna B. ’31, a Taylor Swift fan who hopes to someday follow in her idol’s footsteps, “poetry is a great cheat to practice songwriting.”