On Thursday, November 5, students met in room G4 for the first meeting of Holyoke High’s new slam poetry club. The club, ran by English teachers Mrs. Trial and Mrs. Fitzell-Stevens, will meet once a week on Thursdays and give any interested student a chance to write, listen to, and perform poetry! 

An idea first brought to the table last year by three at-the-time sophomores, Sara Morin ’17, Manon Nadeau ’17, and Sarah Healy ’17, the club has been long awaited. After their sophomore English class’s poetry unit, the three girls became very interested in doing more with poetry. “It really caught our attention,” says Manon Nadeau, “so we brought the idea of a club to Mrs.Trial and she loved it!”

At the start of the 2015-2016 school year, Mrs. Trial was overwhelmed with questions and interest in the club – she knew she had get it going. After a discussion with Mrs. Fitzell, the first meeting was scheduled.

Mrs. Trial has made it clear that the club’s goal is to empower students through writing and give them a safe place to practice and perform poetry; and most importantly she states that “not everyone that joins the club needs to be up and ready to perform; it can simply be a type of writing outlet for anyone interested.” It will give students a chance to explore writing without feeling the pressure to read out loud or be the next great poet of the world; something that sparked the interest of many.

Finally, on November 5, room G4 quickly filled with 20 excited students ready to write and have a good time. The meeting started out with a fun name game and then went on to a few writing exercises to get the students warmed up.  

“It was all very chill and a lot of fun. I didn’t feel pressured to have to be a great poet or anything which was cool,” says Justin Godbout ’17. The meeting went on for 40 minutes and was filled with lots of laughter and creative ideas, flowing from person to person.

Overall, the first meeting was a huge success and is something a lot of students would love to continue to participate in. Mrs. Trial commented that she feels the meeting was “phenomenal” and “had a great outcome.” Additionally, she added the possibility of taking interested students to an actual slam poetry event in the future to watch or maybe even perform! 

All around, the slam poetry club is a great new asset to Holyoke High School and will definitely be a unique and fun experience for anyone looking to explore their creativity. For any student interested in joining, the poetry club invites you to come on down to G4 on Thursdays and see what it’s all about!