Posted on Wednesday, March 17, 2021
Every year, after working closely with professional poets as part of Harlem Academy’s Visiting Poets Program, our sixth and eighth graders look forward to taking the stage and reciting their original pieces in front of a cheering audience. While they couldn’t step onto a physical stage this year because of the pandemic, they were still able to step up to the mic – virtually.
With insight beyond their years, our students rose to the challenge and delivered powerful original poems during a...
Tags: middle school, English, poetry Posted on Thursday, February 27, 2020
Anticipation filled the air as family and friends settled into their seats, waiting for each young poet to step onstage. The room was silent as eighth grader Tianna began her recitation, a deeply personal reflection on insecurity and depression.
Suddenly, she removed the microphone from its stand and roamed the stage, launching into an impassioned delivery that elicited spontaneous cheers and applause from the audience of family and friends. “Stop making me unsure if I could ever be...
Tags: poetry, middle school, English, writing Posted on Wednesday, April 10, 2019
Heart, Soul, charged with emotion. It cannot be seen, only heard. Always inside you. Immense, deafening tidal waves explode all around me into existence. Spreading along the scene filled with action around me. When you open your mouth and let your inner you speak out into the deaf world around you, when you crunch down on a kernel of cereal, they are always there. Sometimes they become even more than waves. They become memories, like a huge impact accompanied with screeching metal, and the...
Tags: poetry, middle school, English Posted on Wednesday, April 10, 2019
I’m from the dark Bronx, illicit and glowing. Where all I eat is simmering ketchup, salty, bacon, egg, and cheese, teeth muscles chomping, mouth watering.
I’m from Mayaguez, Puerto Rico where the crystal clear water is perfect,
but also my purple pulpo, salty white carrucho, and cheesy yellow sorullos take me back. I’m from set tables of rice and beans every night and divine ice cream from Rex Cream, just a hint of spice to the mix.
Don't forget about mom's chicken and pig feet, slimy and...
Tags: poetry, middle school, English Posted on Wednesday, February 28, 2018
Imagine a group of gifted poets sitting on a stage. One by one, they walk to the microphone to recite poems about race, immigration, love of family—each poem more powerful, searing, heartbreaking, or poignant than the next. Now imagine these poets are just 11-, 12-, and 13-years old.
When our middle-schoolers joined professional poets for original readings earlier this month as part of Harlem Academy’s Visiting Poets Program, everyone in attendance knew they were witnessing something special....
Tags: English, poetry Posted on Wednesday, September 20, 2017
Harlem Academy students’ poems were among 12 selected by celebrated author Jacqueline Woodson for display at the New York Botanical Garden’s Chihuly sculpture exhibit. Chosen from a pool of more than 150 Tri-State area submissions, the poems were evaluated using no identifying information, so each had to stand on merit alone. Winning poems came from independent schools, charter schools, and traditional public schools, but HA was the only school with multiple winners.
The New York...
Tags: middle school, poetry, writing Posted on Friday, September 15, 2017
Seventh grader Adonis Beckford was one of four Harlem Academy students selected among just twelve poems included in the Chihuly exhibit at the New York Botanical Garden.
Standing among the Dale Chihuly glass sculptures at the New York Botanical Garden, Harlem Academy seventh grader Adonis Beckford approaches the podium and recites his poem, “Sapphire Star.” He and three other Harlem Academy students had been selected as winners of a poetry competition pairing young voices with the artist’s...
Tags: middle school, writing, poetry 
Posted on Thursday, April 2, 2015
Teacher Whitney Wood developed the poetry program in partnershipwith the Poetry Society. Above, Ms. Wood (r) and Charif Shanahan (c) of PSA observe as poet Ama Codjoe (l) works with grade-eight students.
This special evening is the culmination of a trimester-long collaboration between Harlem Academy and the Poetry Society of America. The innovative workshop model brings professional poets to Harlem Academy’s middle school classrooms to lead college-style seminars. Over the course of six...
Tags: poetry, English