Writing. Emotional expression. Stage presence.
All of the fundamental skills of performance poetry will be on display at the National Poetry Month Youth Summit, which takes place on April 13 in Riviera Beach for its second year.
The free community event aims to make art more accessible for middle and high school students, and features educational workshops and performances as part of an effort to promote literacy and mental health.
“We're teaching these kids how to have self esteem, how to walk into a room and own that room with the performance aspect and the public speaking,” said Desiree Reavis, who partnered with the city and over a dozen nonprofits serving children and young adults to found the event.
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Reavis told WLRN the gathering also helps students translate these communication skills their picking up at the event for job and college interviews. "These are tools that they can use every day of their life,” she said.
Students who sign up at the event will participate in a poetry slam, a competitive art performance in front of spectators and a panel of judges — poets will compete for up to $3,000 dollars in college scholarships.
And nonprofits serving the event include Digital Vibez, a local staple that motivates youth in underserved communities through dance, wellness workshops and arts.
Around 22% of adults age 16 and older in the county lack basic literacy skills, according to Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County. The county has struggled to keep up with reading scores — nearly half of all third-graders in the county are not reading at grade level, according to data from the National Center for Education Statistics.
Jashua Sa-Ra, a communications artist and renowned spoken-word poet, is leading the poetry and public speaking workshop.
Sa-Ra said art events for the community make education "accessible" outside campus and that the summit is an opportunity for tactile learning, the multi-sensory approach to education that requires physical activity — using the sense of touch and movement.
That desire for human connection goes for teachers, too, who seek to provide more affirmation to hard-working students.
"I typically work online with children. There's a whole tactile education that is lacking in today's society,” Sa-Ra told WLRN. "There's always a difference between being able to put my hand on somebody's shoulder and say, ‘good job’ versus giving them an emoji, ‘thumbs up.”
The educator typically works with various after-school students online and at the Center for Creative Education, a nonprofit institute that has integrated arts offerings into the School District of Palm Beach County for the past 30 years.
“I think we need to make sure we keep a good balance between technology on these virtual spaces as well as being in person,” he said.
The summit organizers say this is part of a series of in-person exposure to the arts and hope to expand the event further.
IF YOU GO
National Poetry Month Youth Summit
WHEN: April 13, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
WHERE: Riviera Beach Marina Village Event Center, 190 East 13th Street Riviera Beach, FL 33404
