Earlier this month, an excited, blissful atmosphere could be felt in the commons of Oceanview Middle School, the kind grade eight students only feel as the school year is coming to a close and they anticipate summer.
As the poetry slam finished up and students waited for Read for the Top to start, some danced, some sat with friends and others wandered the halls of a school they will soon see only in memories. Oceanview is closing and these students will be going to Brooks Secondary School in September, as part of a move that saw grade nine students relocated in 2008, with grade eights to join when space allowed. On May 4, however, it was all about World Literacy Day.
Playwright, actor and poet Joel Benson worked with students for three days to teach them about metaphors, similes and other literary crafts they could weave into poetry. When it came time for the poetry slam, Benson said he was “blown away” by each student.
“Three days ago I met with them and there was, for the most part, a very timid bunch who had written very good poems but had never heard their own words out loud before,” said Benson.“For them to hear the internal rhythms and rhyming and alliteration and the metaphors and similes coming to life, it was so exciting. It was a great discovery for everyone.”
Students visited Powell River Film Festival where they were able to see the documentary Louder than a Bomb. Benson said the film is about “inner-city kids performing poetry in a slam competition down in the [United] States. They were seeing kids in a very different living situation, in a very different country, spelunking their souls for material, the same things that were important to them and they realized they shared similar experiences; realizing we’re all part of the same human experience. That inspired them a lot. That carried into their craftsmanship of their poetry.”
Following the poetry slam was a Read for the Top competition for grade eight students, a game where students were given clues about 20 books assigned to their grade to read throughout the year and they guessed which books the clue was about.
First place team members were Tim Wriglesworth, Josh Grouchy and Tristan Moore. Second place team members consisted of Clancy Sindlinger, Jeremy Hopper and Emily White. Third place team members were Emily Bolton, Santana Huetzelmann and Taylor Morcan.
While a few students remarked they were nervous about going to Brooks next year, Oceanview principal Frank Radcliffe said events like this show students they are able to take risks. “That’s what this was about today, taking risks,” he explained. “They’re going to be fine. They’re all ready to go. They’re going to try and do a transitional year for the grade sevens at Brooks so I’m not worried about them either. I know they’re going to be well taken care of and there will be a core group of teachers that are going to make sure that it does go well for them.”
Radcliffe added that he will not be joining the students at Brooks, as he is retiring at the end of the school year. “The school is closing and I’m retiring,” he said.
