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The Young Poets are now a program of
Willimantic Weed and Seed,
thanks to Ray Ortiz of the Teen Center. Their voices, along with the
many messages they share, will now gather in support of their community, choosing
positive life choices and spreading that message through
their poetry and Hip Hop.
An account for
the Young Poets has been set up at the
Northeast Family
Federal Credit Union,
on 361 Boston Poet Road in Windham. We are gratefully
accepting donations towards The Young Poets' college
scholarship fund as well as for fees for travel, contest
entrance fees and to support the publishing of their second
book. Checks can be made payable to The Young Poets and can
be mailed to the address below.
Click on the Young Poet link for more information and to view the
poets and their performances.
For any further questions, you can contact Lynn Frazier at
lfrazier@windham.k12.ct.us. |
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IN
THE NEWS!!
Freedom Writers Maria Reyes and Tony Becerra rocked Windham Middle School! Click
CHANGE to view the event!
Check the Photo
Gallery for pictures and video clips from the Rap 4Peace concert at Yale, New
Haven. It was an amazing afternoon!
To hear the entries by Young Poets Ben and Trey, click
BENIFIT or REMA'D
or hear their COLLAB.
Congratulations to Young Poets Ben Fitzsimmons, Carmen
Rentas and Trey Vaz for making it to the finals of the CT
State Youth Poetry Slam Team!! And....yes, Carmen Rentas and
Ben Fitzsimmons took first and fourth in the final
competition at the Bushnell Theater on April 5th!!! The
 Young Poets make up half of the state team! They will travel
to Chicago in July to compete in the
Brave New Voices
competition. Last
year's competition is airing on HBO. Our goal is to bring
the whole team of Young Poets to Chicago to support Carmen
and Ben. Our goal is to raise $10,000.00. We are looking for
sponsors and donations to accomplish this mission. There are
three tiers for sponsors, whose names will appear on the
back of the Young Poets t-shirts. Bronze, is for
$100-$499.00, $500.00-$999.00 is Silver and Gold is $1000.00
and over. Donation checks should be made out to The Young
Poets and can be mailed to:
Young Poets
PO Box 265
Columbia, CT 06237
Please help us accomplish this dream of a lifetime for a
group of young men and women who have worked so hard to
better themselves and our community!
The new book,
Teaching Hope, Stories from the Freedom Writers Teachers,
is available for pre-order at Amazon.com. For
the past two years I have been working with 149 other
Freedom Writer Teachers, writing
and editing. This book is filled with our
journal entries; our experiences as teachers in today's
world. It gives a unique insight to education across the
United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and Mexico. |
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AWARD
WINNING WRITERS!
*The
Soroptimist International Club of Willimantic held an essay
contest. Young Poet, Caridad Booker, was a winner and
received a cash prize for her outstanding essay.
*Young Poets, Ben Fitzsimmons and Samaria Gutierrez and
WHS student, Yary Rivera,
were finalists in the The 2009 Connecticut Young Writers
contest. Yary Rivera was the Windham County winner and
will go on to Mark Twain House. The ceremony will be held on
Sunday, May 31, 2009, beginning at 7 p.m., following a
reception that begins at 5:30 p.m. The competition has inspired the participation
of over 580 students this year -- the third highest number
of entries in the competition's 12 years -- and is sponsored
by IMPAC and the Connecticut State University System. For
more information about the Connecticut Young Writers
competition, go to
www.ct.gov/governorrell/cwp/view.asp?a=1809&Q=401884&PM=1
On
Friday, May 15th, Original Freedom Writers Maria Reyes and
Tony Becerra came to Windham Middle School to speak with
students and staff. They gave two life changing
presentations. Students and staff met with Tony and Maria
between performances and had time to share stories, laugh
and have their books signed. What a wonderful
YOUTUBE PERFORMANCES
Cindy and Kevin
Trey and
Benifit
Benifit
Carmen
In the news...check out the article in The Reminder
about The Young Poets! Click on...
The Reminder
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Chris
Kazi Rolle came to Windham High School on May 8, 2008.
Chris “Kazi” Rolle was abandoned as a baby, has endured
abusive foster homes and institutions,
 and
survived alone on the streets with no home or family to
support him. Falling victim to the intense pressures of his
surroundings, Kazi dropped out high school and began
hustling and selling drugs in the streets to survive. After
a few short visits to numerousNYC penal institutions, Kazi
became determined to focus his energy in other areas. In
1991, Kazi discovered the Tomorrow’s Future Theatre Company
and began directing, writing and acting for/in urban
theatrical productions that fused Hip Hop and drama to tell
tales of everyday life in the inner city. Kazi held his
audiences captive sharing his life story and message of
hope. We will all remember to be a VICTOR and not a VICTIM.
For more information you can go to
http://www.chriskazirolle.com/ Hip Hop is
changing...Rap can be used for positive transformation.
Thank you Kazi!!!! |
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Windham's Young Poets