Poet Laureate Ted Kooser in Syracuse
"Community Life in Poetry"
a year of poetry, a day of celebration, a constant community voice

Poetry Partnerships

Indian River High School
Kristie Fuller's Theatre Classes with poet Marj Hahne

Each class created (from individual student poems) an ensemble performance piece combining poetry/language and movement, ideally addressing the theme of our shared humanity and such sub-issues as intolerance, as a precursor to next year’s theatre production The Laramie Project. All theatre classes generated initial individual poems, three classes worked collaboratively on a class poem, while one Stage Craft and Design class designed the stage backdrops for the ensemble pieces.

Students designing the backdrop

As models for the student poems, the poet selected Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s “I Am Waiting” and Gustaf Sobin’s “What the Music Wants,” each with a repeating line that builds in a chant-like fashion and can elicit many and diverse relevant responses.

Above, Marj Hahne in the classroom. At right, students work on the staging of their poem.

In between sessions the students continued generating their individual poems, while poet and teacher encouraged them to ongoingly notice what they’re waiting for and what the music wants in their everyday lives.

Read reports of what happened in each of the five residency sessions.

Read the final poems with pictures of the performances.

This poetry residency taught me to “look what is in front of me; to exhaust possibilities; to think and reflect about everything; to find poetry everywhere; stop looking for poetry.”

~Kyle Chapman(Grade 11)