Preparing for Poetry Café

Eighth Grade is busy preparing for one of its largest showcase events of the year, Poetry Café, which will be held here at St. Michael's on April 4. Students are working on writing their own original pieces which will reflect on themselves and group- selected themes. A large variety of poetry types have been explored and students are becoming quite the poets.

While Poetry Café is a capstone event for the eighth grade, the entire middle level participates. Sixth grade students create table level poetry for guests to enjoy throughout the evening of the event, as well as provide the refreshments for intermission. Seventh grade students complete a poet research project and present both biographical and poetry works by a large variety of authors using tri-fold presentation boards. These boards are used to help create the café environment for the event, while eighth grade students are front and center with oral interpretations of their original work.

April is National Poetry Month and St. Michael's celebrates poetry throughout all the grades. During a student's tenure at St. Michael's Academy, they read, write, and experience a variety of poetry. Our program exposes students to the richness of the written word, and culminates in a presentation that not only includes recitations, original works, and presentation skills, but also the use of technology to produce individual poetry booklets.

At St. Michael's, we strive to educate the whole child. Incorporating poetry into the curriculum is just one of the many ways we accomplish that goal.