Poetry Highlights at HYSA

With March 2018 being named "Arizona Youth Arts Month" and National Poetry Month just around the corner, it seemed an appropriate time to take a moment to highlight some of the HYSA thespians' poetry experiences.

POETRY OUT LOUD


"Reciting poetry fills my heart with happiness. Poetry out loud has been an exhilarating experience full of surprises. I love being able to move people with my words." - Drew









HYSA has been active with Poetry Out Loud for six years. The competition begins as a school-wide event each fall. Finalists from the first tier go on to compete for the title and the opportunity to represent HYSA at the Central Region POL competition. The last two years HYSA winners have won first and second place at the regional level.

Poetry Out Loud encourages students to learn about great poetry through memorization and recitation. This program helps students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about literary history and contemporary life.

Since 2005, Poetry Out Loud has grown to reach more than 3 million students and 50,000 teachers from 10,000 schools in every state, Washington, DC, the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.



ASU SPARKY SLAM

This year the HYSA Thespian Society hosted the Second Annual Sparkly Slam event in the Black Box Theatre.

Arizona State University’s Sparky Slam was a valley-wide spoken word poetry contest featuring original work by students in grades 5–12.  Sparky Slam debuted in the spring of 2017.  Dr. Wendy Williams, of the College of Integrative Sciences and Arts developed the spoken word event for the purpose of welcoming young people onto a college campus, celebrating youth voices, and providing young artists with writing support from ASU faculty and students.

This year, a writing workshop for the youth performers took place right before the slam. ASU students worked with these performing poets in small groups to offer encouragement and advice. ASU's Sparky Slam was co-sponsored by the Herberger Young Scholars Academy of ASU's Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College and by ASU's College of Integrative Sciences and Arts.

"While Sparky got the audience smiling, it was the young poets who brought the crowd to their feet. Fourteen valley schools competed in the 2018 Sparky Slam, This intercollegiate event included faculty members from Barrett Honors College, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (and the Institute for Humanities Research), College of Integrative Sciences and Arts, New College, WP Carey School of Business, Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts, and MLF Teachers College. 

The HYSA Thespian Society was well represented at the competition.  Executive Board members, Carly and Ben, and Secondary One thespian, Drew, offered their unique poetry to the event. Offstage the poets were supported by the technical production team of Joseph, Robert, and Royce. In addition, HYSA alumni and 2016-2017 Thespian Society co-president Isabel Greenberg acted as one of the ASU undergraduate Writer's Workshop mentors." -- HYSA Thespian Society Event Stream  

THE HYSA THESPIAN SOCIETY MUSICAL INTERLUDE SERIES

"A dash of theatrical lighting, sixty black chairs, a grand piano, and the musical and poetic talents of the HYSA thespians made the inaugural "Musical Interlude Series" performance a wonderful way to launch the HYSA Black Box Theatre."  - HYSA Thespian Society Event Stream 

This was how the launch of the Musical Interlude Series was announced.  The series afforded HYSA students the opportunity to share their musical and spoke word skills with peers and family. The success of the 2017 - 2018 series assures its spot as a HYSA Thespian Society ongoing event.

UPCOMING POETRY

The HYSA Thespian Performance Outreach Program will be combining poetry and sculpture for a service learning outreach this spring. The outreach will be at a Title One art classroom and will explore how what we create speaks to one in many ways.

For additional information about the aforementioned events:

Poetry Out Loud Website
ASU Sparky Slam
HYSA Thespian Society Event Stream Webpage

Upcoming Theatrical Events

Wednesday, March 14th - Outreach Production Rehearsal
Wednesday, March 21st - HYSA Thespian Society Meeting
Friday - March 23rd - IGCSE Drama (0411) - Recording
Friday, March 23rd - HYSA Thespian Society Literacy & Theatre Outreach  
Wednesday, March 28th - HYSA Thespian Society Meeting "Trivia Bowl Event"