Show Me Youth Poetry Project
A Project of MO Poetry Slam Springfield
Youth Slam Poetry Workshops
at The Creamery Arts Center
411 N. Sherman Parkway Springfield, MO 65802
Thursdays from 4pm – 6pm!
First workshop a month will be the Show Me Youth Poetry Slam.
The program teaches the key elements of spoken word poetry including both writing and performance. Workshop participants are encouraged to participate in the monthly slam.
Poets, please bring one – three poems to workshop.
Email mopoetry.slam@gmail.com for a registration form.
See below for more information.
The Show Me Youth Poetry Slam!
First Thursday of the month from 4pm – 6pm at The Cremery Arts Center. Guests welcome and encouraged to come watch, judge or compete. Poets must be ages 13-19 years of age to participate. Attending the youth workshop is not required to participate.
1. Poems can be on any subject and in any style
2. Each poet must perform work that s/he has created
3. No props
4. No musical instruments or pre-recorded music
5. No costumes
6. No poem should last longer than three minutes. After three minutes, the poet will be allowed a ten second grace period, then points will be deducted. Time starts when the poet connects with the audience.
7. There will be three rounds of poetry. All poets read in the first round, poets may be cut before the second round, poets will be cut before the final round (down to the three highest scoring poets)
8. First 12 poets to sign up will be able to compete.
RSVP on facebook for the slam on Thursday, March 1st.
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Show Me Youth Poetry Project
The Show Me Youth Poetry Project is a program for residents of the greater Springfield area between the ages of 13 and 19. The program teaches the key elements of spoken word poetry including both writing and performance. It is the belief of Show Me Youth Poetry Project that every young person has a story to share with the world and that all they need is training, practice, and encouragement. Our writing exercises focus on finding the creative talent that lies inside of each of us and learning how to express that in a clear and inspiring way. Our performance training teaches everything from the basics of warming up and preparing your voice all the way to effective speaking and movement styles. Workshops are open to anyone in the greater Springfield area between the ages of 13 and 19 and take place every Thursday between 4 and 6PM at The Creamery Arts Center, 411 North Sherman Parkway, Springfield. We will follow Springfield Public School schedules with regard to holidays and weather closings.
Show Me Youth Poetry began working with students at Central High School and held its first competition to select a Youth Poetry Team in January of 2012. Now, Show Me Youth Poetry has moved its workshops to The Creamery Arts Center and is looking to include students from all of the greater Springfield area. MO Poetry, Slam Springfield (The parent of Show Me Youth Poetry Project) is a local spoken word organization that works to promote the performance, understanding, and appreciation of the spoken word arts in Southwest Missouri. We run a poetry slam (spoken word poetry show with a poetry “competition”) once a month, put on various poetry events in and around Springfield, and offer classes for both teens and adults. MO Poetry, Slam Springfield is a member of the Springfield Regional Arts Council and a certified venue with Poetry Slam Inc. Students who participate in The Show Me Youth Poetry Project may be offered opportunities to perform in public at some of MO Poetry Slam Springfield’s various poetry events. In addition, it is one of the goals of the program to train and send a team of young poets to compete at the Brave New Voices competition against other youth teams from around the country.
Policy on Free Expression and Censorship
It is the policy of MO Poetry Slam Springfield and The Show Me Youth Poetry Project to not censor the work of its poets or participants. However, we also believe that in order for communication to be effective a speaker must consider the ideas, opinions, and feelings of their audience. We believe that every word that is spoken aloud should be deliberate and thought should be given to the consequences of what we say and the impact that it can have on the world. To this end, we will not restrict the words, thoughts, language, or ideas that our students use in their poetry or their performance. We will teach the impact of words and language on one’s audience and will always work to point out to our students the possible reactions that their use of language may have on their audience. This means that our students may be exposed to language that some would term inappropriate, unwanted, or rude. However, it also means that our students will be taught the ability to understand the way in which such language gains attention and alternative methods for engaging individuals and groups with equal impact. The public performance of poetry by any member of Show Me Youth Poetry Project will be required to conform to the standards of the anticipated audience for the performance and restrictions on language and content may be strictly enforced in these cases. If any student and/or parent/legal guardian has any question or concern regarding this policy they are invited to contact us and we would be more than happy to discuss this policy with them.
The Instructors:
Seth White
Seth currently serves on the Executive Council of Poetry Slam Inc. (PSi), a national organization for spoken word and slam poetry. He is also their tournament director for both the Individual World Poetry Slam and the Women of The World Poetry Slam. Seth has represented the Springfield area at several National and International spoken word poetry competitions. Seth is also an award winning page poet whose work has appeared in several collections of poetry. Seth has a Bachelors Degree in English from George Washington University and spent several years as a high school summer school teacher.
Michelle Nimmo
Michelle is an accomplished poet who has won the right to represent the Springfield area at the Women of the World Poetry Slam five years in a row. In addition, Michelle has represented Springfield in numerous other national and international competitions. Michelle has founded poetry writing and discussion groups and is an accomplished page poet in her own right. Michelle has published two collections of her poetry and has released two albums of her spoken word poetry.
Guest Instructors
We currently work to bring touring Spoken Word Poets to Springfield to perform their poetry and look forward to being able to bring some of them into the classroom to share their expertise with our students.
Email mopoetry.slam@gmail.com for a registration form or more information.
