Despite the weather, on Saturday, January 18, 2020, Kalamazoo Public School students ventured out to participate in “Courage to Create” poetry workshops held at Western Michigan University as part of Kalamazoo’s annual MLK Day Celebration. “Courage to Create” is a collaborative effort of Western Michigan University Office of Diversity and Inclusion, Communities In Schools of Kalamazoo, Friends of Poetry, and Kalamazoo Public Schools.
Jayla Smith
For today’s post, we share a poem that was created during the workshop by former CIS intern and Western Michigan University School of Social Work student Jayla Smith. Last school year, as Jayla was completing her bachelor’s degree, she served as a CIS intern at Lincoln Elementary School. “It was a great experience,” she says. “I loved working with CIS in the school…It confirmed that I wanted to continue to further my education and pursue a career in social work.”
Originally from Detroit, Jayla came to Kalamazoo to attend Western Michigan University. In addition to her studies, she is currently interning with the Kalamazoo Promise Scholars Program on Western’s campus. She will be graduating this spring with her Master of School Work (MSW). During the MLK Courage to Create workshops, Jayla welcomed the middle school and high school students, and supported the poetry facilitators. Jayla also sat and wrote alongside the students during the poetry exercises. When students were invited to read aloud some of the work they created, Jayla shared her poem, encouraging others to share. Here’s her poem:
My heart resides in a glass box that I keep inside my refrigerator.
She gets cold easily so keep her close to the bulb,
but she is still not satisfied.
I paint her walls red with hot sauce
and she screams that her eyes burn.
What do you want?
It takes courage to create. It also takes courage to stand up and let your voice be heard. So thank you, Jayla, for modeling courage for our students.
The upcoming MLK Courage to Create celebration, in which students who participated in the annual MLK Courage to Create contest read alongside community poets, will be held on Wednesday, February 19th on the campus of Western Michigan University, in the WMU Multicultural Center in the Adrian Trimpe Building. The celebration starts at 4 p.m. and is open to the public.
Principal McKissack out at WMU (in 2016) with Hillside students and staff. Hillside students are rock stars when it comes to Courage to Create. Come out and see how they do this year!
Tags: CIS interns, Communities In Schools of Kalamazoo, Friends of Poetry, Jayla Smith, Kalamazoo Promise Scholars Program, Kalamazoo Public Schools, MLK Courage to Create, poetry, WMU School of Social Work, WMU University Office of Diversity and Inclusion
