Standley Spectrum
Students Get a Taste of Poetry and Cookies at Poetry CafeSunday, June 03, 2012 By Manar Alkuzweny
On Thursday, April 26 th , 2012, many Seahawks weren’t outside, enjoying the one lunch with their friends. Instead, they were to be found in the media center, enjoying cookies, lemonade, and poems galore. According to Ms. Wuhrmann, the main organizer of the event, about 80 studens signed up to go to the Poetry Café. Unfortunately, only about 60 students showed up. This didn’t dampen any of the poets as they happily munched on cookies and sipped Poet’s Nectar, also known as lemonade. Students could “buy” the cookies and lemonade by showing a poem they had with them. If they didn’t have a poem with them, Ms. Wuhrmann allowed the students to go take a poem from a book displayed in the library. The Media Center was decorated as an actual café, with candles, flowers at each table, tablecloths, placemats, background music and dim lighting. There was a microphone at the front of the library where students could read their own poems to the rest of their peers. People were shy at first, but gradually became more and more eager to share their poems. Students may have been so eager because each student who read their poem got a piece of the giant cookie with a poem by E.E. Cummings written on it made by Mrs. Solis, the library tech. “We ran out of time,” Ms. Wuhrmann stated. Not only students were at the Poetry Café, but five or six parents were present at the Poetry Café as volunteers, handing out cookies and lemonade. “Some came dressed up as waiters and waitresses,” Ms. Wuhrmann noted with a laugh. Even teachers were to be found mingling among students. Mr. Conseur read a couple poems himself, and Mrs. Jeurgens sent her Spanish 3-4 students to read Spanish poems at each table. After each student read their poem, they wrote their feelings about the Café on a slip of paper. Mrs. Brantley, the ELA teacher, turned those words into a found poem, created from a collection of quotes. Ms. Wuhrmann started the Poetry Café this year and according to her, it was a great success. “One of the most fabulous events I have experienced as an educator and librarian,” Ms. Wuhrmann declared. Sadly, this could be the last Poetry Café, since Ms. Wuhrmann’s position of librarian is going to be taken away for the 2012-13 school year. When asked if this will be the last Poetry Café, Ms. Wuhrmann said, “It depends on the new library staff.” Hopefully, events like these can inspire students and allow them to reach out and find their hidden talents. "I love doing things like this, I love involving students and allowing them to explore and discover new talents and share them," Ms. Wuhrmann noted. |