A Poetry Presentation
Above: EXPRESSION THROUGH POETRY: CCHS parents, students, and faculty watch Contemporary Lit-Comp students perform in the CCHS Media Center on Oct. 17. English Department teacher Grace Grumpton leads the Contemporary Lit class, and reported that the course has changed over the years. “I mostly design the (class) curriculum based on the kids in the class each time,” Crumpton said. “(I) let them do a lot of the designing and (make) a lot of choices like what we read, what assignments we do, what kind of projects we do, those are all class decisions, so it’s different every time.” Photo by Iliana Tejada
Clarke Central High School’s current and former Contemporary Literature Composition students performed various poems in the CCHS Media Center on Oct. 17.
Clarke Central High School’s Contemporary Literature Composition class, led by English Department teacher Grace Crumpton, celebrated their work through their fifth annual Fall Poetry Showcase in the CCHS Media Center on Oct. 17 from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.
“(This) is actually our third year doing the (Poetry Showcase) because we do one every semester,” Crumpton said. “I really enjoy how different every semester is because each class has a unique personality,”
Poetry students, such as Melissa Lopez-Palma, a senior, found a home in Crumpton’s poetry class.
“I didn’t know I would end up loving it as much as I do,” Lopez-Palma said. “I learned that there are different types of poetry, and they can be long, short, or anything (you can think of).”
This year's showcase was held earlier in the semester, due to the fact that Crumpton will soon be going on maternity leave. Crumpton invited former poetry students to help guide her fall semester class.
“I’ve learned a lot in terms of letting go and letting (students) create something,” Crumpton said. “It really got smoother as I started having poetry two students, because they’ve done it before and they know what to do, so it’s really organized.”
For students like Josiah Mickle, a senior, the showcase presented a unique opportunity to showcase his work.
“The first time I (wrote) poetry was December 24, 2021. I was just messing around (and) trying out some new stuff,” Mickle said. “This class has taught me more about how to structuralize (poems) (and) I’ve also learned how to connect with (others) and get my feelings out on paper.”
Above: STUDENTS CHOICE: Clarke Central High School senior Melissa Lopez-Palma speaks to an audience of CCHS faculty, parents, and students in the Media Center on Oct. 17. Lopez-Palma is a Contemporary Lit-Comp student who performed her original poem, “La Manera En Que Brillo En Tus Ojos” as well as a poem from her classmate Wendy Hernandez titled “Found a Place”. “These events are important because they are a way people express themselves,” Lopez-Palma said. “It’s always enjoyable to hear about people through (poetry) rather than something like a biography or autobiography.” Photo by Iliana Tejada
Throughout the event, Poetry One and Two students performed poems written in the Poetry class to an audience consisting of CCHS parents, students and faculty.
“My favorite part of the event was listening to my classmates' poems and seeing the emotion they put into them,” Lopez-Palma said. “Even though we rehearsed these same poems in class, it had an ‘omg this is actually real’ feeling to it during the showcase.”
Social Studies Department Teacher Drew Wheeler attended the event to support some of his students who were performing.
“I think all the (school) events are important, but everybody hears about the sporting events and the big things like that,” Wheeler said. “We have all these classes and all these other clubs and all these other extracurriculars that are doing awesome stuff and it’s good for them to be able to show off too.”
As Crumpton prepares to go on maternity leave for the remainder of the semester, she notes how teaching the Poetry Class has impacted her.
“I’ve learned there are no rules about what poetry and art are, and I’ve learned to kind of sit back (when) working with creative kids,” Crumpton said. “There’s no such thing as deadlines when you have really creative kids, but it always turns out better than you think it will.”
Story by Niles Flath
Niles Flath is a junior at Clarke Central High School in Athens Georgia. She serves as Outreach Director for the iliad Literary-Art Magazine. Flath hopes to make connections with creators both inside and outside the CCHS walls and showcase their work through the iliad program. In her free time, she likes playing tennis, swimming, and hanging out with friends.