April is National Poetry Month

Aurora High School students have probably noticed the poster outside of Mrs White’s classroom depicting a bracket. Only the bracket does not include athletes. This year, in celebration of Poetry Month, Mrs Brown’s students have been voting “March Madness” style on a group of famous poets.

Students each submitted a poem written by a poet of their choice. Poets featured in the bracket include Emily Dickinson, Pablo Neruda, Walt Whitman and Gwendolyn Brooks.

After a few weeks of voting, poet Christina Rossetti beat all other poets. Rossetti, born in 1830 and died in 1894, is a writer who experiments with a variety of writing. For example, you could read one of her poems rich with religious elements or choose from her fairytale-like poetry such as “Goblin Market”. There are many students who have never even heard of Rossetti (or the other competing poets for that matter) who have now experienced a wide range of writing. Highlighting this poet is one of the ways Mrs Brown’s class celebrated Poetry Month.

Other ways students at Aurora celebrated was by putting up poems and quotes about poetry around the school. They are scattered everywhere, from the atrium to above lockers. This ensures that no matter where you are in the school, poetry is never far away.

In 1996, the Academy of American Poets declared April a time for honoring and celebrating poems written by a variety of poets. A few of the goals of National Poetry Month include: to highlight the achievement of poets, encourage reading of poetry, encourage poets to continue to write poetry, and to increase the attention poets and their writing receive.

How can you celebrate National Poetry Month? One way is to sign up for the “Poem-A-Day” service provided by the Academy of American Poets. This free service delivers a poem to your email’s inbox daily. Teachers can sign up for the “Teach This Poem” service which is similar to the one described above, only this is a weekly service that is accompanied by resources to help teachers include more poetry in the classroom.

Finally, one of the best ways to celebrate poetry is by reading and sharing it with others. Simply sharing a poem you like with someone you care about can help spread the messages poets have been creating for hundreds of years. How will you be celebrating National Poetry Month?