Seventeen
Oakcrest High School students recently traveled to the Dodge Poetry
Festival held at Waterloo Village in Stanhope, New Jersey. The
2006 11th Biennial
GERALDINE R. DODGE POETRY FESTIVAL is the largest poetry event in North America.
Nearly 20,000 people participated in the four-day event. More than 60 poets
and dozens of accomplished musicians and storytellers were featured.
Students
who participated in the event were excited about what they experienced.
“We
really look forward to taking our students to this event,” commented
Dianne Robbins, creative writing teacher at Oakcrest, who organized
the trip. “Our students learn so much about sharing and experiencing
poetry. It’s a wonderful opportunity.”
“My
advanced placement students really benefit from programs like this,” commented
Darlene Kopania, OHS AP English 4 teacher. “This type of
academic opportunity can’t be experienced in the traditional
classroom setting.”
In
addition to the various activities offered at the biennial Festivals,
the Dodge Poetry Program works year-round with New Jersey students
and teachers. Begun in 1987 with a primary emphasis on helping
teachers bring poetry to high school students, the Dodge Poetry
Program has increasingly focused its attention on how to help teachers
deepen their own experience of poetry, whether or not they have
a professional interest in writing or literature. For this reason,
Dodge Poetry Program activities have always been open to teachers
across the curriculum. Throughout the school year, the Dodge Poetry
Program sends Dodge Poets into New Jersey high schools to meet
with students and their teachers.
For
more information, contact:
Darlene A. Kopania, Journalism Department
909-2631
Student
Contact: Darlene Kopania
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