Greenwood students published, hold poetry slam
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on June 15, 2018 5:50 AM
Full Size
Submitted photo
Michelle Rutledge, left, a fifth-grade teacher at Greenwood Middle School, and Quniton Jacobs, at the fourth annual book release party and poetry slam, at Starbucks on Berkeley Boulevard.
Full Size
Submitted photo
Greenwood Middle School fifth-graders Delaney Reitz, left, and Jaxsen Cox look at the just-published book of students’ poems at a recent book release party and poetry slam at Starbucks.
Greenwood Middle School teacher Michelle Rutledge's passion for her students is palpable.
The fifth-grade language arts educator is an unabashed fan of the teachable moment, and making sure her students have a takeaway.
In the case of the latter, she has leveraged grant funding to help her students become published authors.
This is the fourth year that she has enlisted the support of Dr. Ryan Bradshaw, an instructor at Wayne Community College, to lead a workshop for her students. That, in turn, led to them being prompted to get creative in a poetic way.
"Students were inspired by Dr. Bradshaw to write from the heart using poetic tools in our curriculum," she said. "This year we Skyped the poetry workshop into Mrs. Williams' ELA (English/language arts) classrooms as well, making it possible to publish over 100 students in this book.
"Students then wrote their poems using Google Docs, collaborating with one another online through the process. This 'redefining' of the educational experience through technology and was inspired by training provided through the (Department of Defense) technology grant offered to Wayne County Public Schools in partnership with East Carolina University."
A compilation of the poems made their way into a book, titled "These Marvelous Dreams, Poems of Greenwood," published and available through Amazon and Kindle, Rutledge said.
That part of the activity was not only a tangible outcome but a lesson in itself, she added.
"Publishing is an important part of the writing process, as it helps teach the students about attention to detail," she said. "Even more importantly, it tells them that they have a voice, their voice is worthy of being heard and they can make a difference the world."
Each student was presented a copy of the finished product during a "book release party" held at Starbucks on Berkeley Boulevard earlier this month, made possible through another grant Rutledge received, the Bright Ideas grant offered by the N.C. Electric Cooperatives.
The fourth annual book release party and Poetry Slam was a fun event and valuable way to recognize the youths efforts as the school year wrapped up, Rutledge said.
"Students enjoyed finding their poems and giving autographs to one another, before working up the courage to read their poems on the microphone," she said. "The coffee house environment was perfect for the showcase of their poetry, and parents and other patrons even got into the atmosphere, 'snapping' their applause after each poem was read."