Campbell High School's Performing Arts Center was filled last week with proud parents, grandparents, and friends of hundreds of Cobb elementary students who participated in Cobb Schools' Second Annual Poetry Slam. This year's theme was "Beauty Is..." and the young poets wrote and performed all kinds of sonnets and verses to tell the packed auditorium what "beauty" meant to them.

Jessica Espinoza, one of Cobb's Fine Arts Professional Learning Specialists, has worked with professional poet Lester Laminack for several years. "I reached out to Lester after reading his book, 'Climb Inside a Poem,'" Ms. Espinoza said. "He began working with our arts integration schools as a visiting poet/facilitator virtually in 2020-21. This continued to flourish in more classrooms and culminated in our first slam performance last year."

Last year's Slam was a massive success for being a first-time event, with eight elementary schools and 22 classrooms participating. This year, that number grew to 10 schools and 35 classrooms. 

"There is so much creativity represented here tonight," said special guest and front-row-center fan Lester Laminack himself. "Poetry is well-chosen words. It's a bit of music if you listen closely. You will be moved by what you hear tonight."

With that, the second-annual Slam commenced with poets from Ford Elementary and continued for over an hour, closing with the evening's final round of spoken-word artists from Compton Elementary. Dowell, Mableton, and Varner ES were first-year participants, while Brumby, Clarkdale, LaBelle, Powder Springs, and Tritt ES were second-year veterans of the Slam.

Poetry is a valuable literary art form often not taught at the elementary level. This is unfortunate because exploring figurative language with elementary students can lead to critical and abstract thinking. Students learn to become passionate about their words since they themselves have written them. This is an impressionable and powerful experience for 9-11 year-olds.

Performing at the Slam broadens the learning opportunity by elevating student voices and providing them with an arts-integrated experience that sharpens public speaking skills and expression.

While poetry is a powerful art form, there are many others taught around the District. Cobb Schools currently has 102 arts residencies, and that number is growing thanks to the efforts of Ms. Espinoza and the arts integration team. Artist residencies are when an artist enters the classroom— in-person or virtually—and works directly with students on an arts-integrated lesson or project. Residencies are offered in various art forms, including visual arts, theatre, puppetry, and much more.

"We love to engage students and teachers through these residency programs," Ms. Espinoza said. "We realized how powerful this programming could be, even virtually. We strive to continue to provide these opportunities for Cobb elementary students and have more schools and teachers involved each year."

Great job, young poets of Cobb Schools! We loved hearing what beauty was to you and hearing your voices lifted high at the Slam. We look forward to what you have in store for us next year. Keep writing and expressing yourselves!