Welcome+to+the+Poem+Booth

This was the year that some nostalgic eighth grade students and I conspired to bring back The Poem Booth! Thanks to a donation from Fairpoint, and our supportive administration, this was nearly instantly possible. The poem booth has, as of this spring, hosted more than 40 poets, most of them HMS Students. The others (so far) were two staff members and some famous contemporary or historic poets, including Maine's current poet laureate, Betsy Scholl (pictured below). Each contibutor receives a certificate, thanking him or her for setting poems free to roam our hallways. We announce the poets in the Daily Bulletin. The nice thing is, people do stop to read poems. There's something about a booth that's just way more exciting than a bulletin board. The booth has also inspired some projects in far flung rooms. For example, Rich Smith's room came down to look at the poems about looking at ordinary objects in a new way (poems by two fifth graders, based on "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird" by Wallace Stevens. They will now try their hand at this, and some may submit to the poem booth.