Tenth-Grade English Students Perform in Annual Poetry Jam

Written by ninth-graders Sophia Kerns and Hannahjayne Shannon for the Rampage

Poetry Jam is an annual event that takes place every April in Mrs. Harshman’s 10th Grade Honors English class. This year, it took place during periods four and six on Thursday, April 24th. It was held in the Steam LGI. We went to watch it during period six. Here are our thoughts on the show.

The Steam LGI was decorated for the production. The lights were turned off, and there were lights on the podium where the performers read their poems. There were also lights behind them that lit up in a variety of colors. There were signs everywhere. There were some on the doors to tell you which door to enter and to welcome you to the show. 

Smart boards in the rooms had a presentation going specifically for the occasion. It had pictures of famous poets like Emily Dickinson, William Shakespeare, and Langston Hughes. It also had quotes from the sophomores about what they thought poetry was. Mrs. Harshman thought that “Poetry is a performance on paper.” It was a nice addition to the performance. It gave you something to look at while they were transitioning performers.

The audience was packed. Mrs. Harshman invited three classes to watch the performances. All of the seats were full, and it was so cool to see that so many people wanted to watch the poetry performers. Since it was Take Your Kid to Work Day, there were a few little kids in the audience. The kids were engaged throughout the whole performance and it was interesting to see how entertained they were. Rammy was also there. Rammy added some Pine-Richland spirit and was with the hosts the whole show. 

The show itself was fantastic. There were six sophomore performers and even a junior that performed last year came back and did it again this year. The students were allowed to choose any song or poem that they wanted and speak it in their own creative interpretation. They were encouraged to add their own hand movements to the reading. The performers were also given the option to play instruments during the reading of their poem. One student played guitar during their performance, which was so cool. 

At the beginning of the show, the hosts asked us to choose five nouns. We chose Garden, Apple, Banana, Whale, and House. While the show was happening, two of the sophomores had to create their own original poems that included these words. At the very end of the performance, we got to hear the poems. They were super good, especially for only being written in 10 minutes. 

We interviewed one of the performers after the show. Sophomore Liv Moore said, “I thought it was really fun and creative! It was really fun to see everyone chip in to make it happen.”

There are many good reasons why people should come to the next Poetry Jam. There was such a great audience and the room was so amazing and decked out. The hosts are interactive and the game they play at the end is so much fun.  There is no pressure to perform a poem. You can just sit in the audience and enjoy, or if you would like to perform a poem, you could email Mrs. Harshman beforehand. It is such a cool experience, and we know we would be excited if we were able to go back next year, even if we are not in Mrs. Harshman’s class. 

Read this and other student stories in the Rampage.