A pair of teaching artists are visiting Homer High School this week through the Artists in Schools program. Kima Hamilton and Dasha Kelly are introducing students to poetry through spoken word.
“This week we’re going to have some fun writing and creating and perhaps sharing in front of each other,” said Kima Hamilton.
He demonstrates what he’s talking about.
“Oh what a joy, I’m looking at the monitor and I see my little boy. My first sonogram. Got so excited when I seen my little man. My heart skipped a beat when I seen his healthy hands. Each had five fingers. His feet 10 toes. And in between his cheeks that’s a nose I suppose. And when I got to the region where the pelvis should go I was stopped in my tracks. The doctor thought I should know that’s really not what you think. That’s your daughter’s big toes,” said Hamilton.
Hamilton and his wife, Dasha Kelly are performance poets from Anchorage and Milwaukee and this week the couple is working with students at Homer High School. Hamilton is introducing them to different types of poetry, including his specialty, slam.
“In that world of performance poetry, there’s a paradigm we call slam poetry. How many of you are familiar with slam poetry?” said Hamilton.
A few of the students have heard of it. Hamilton explains it’s like a poetry recital but also a competition. Kelly, eventually begins coaching students to write down a few things about themselves – things they’re good at, that they like about themselves.
“What are some things that you think are cool about you? It’s subjective. So you get to decide what is cool. And more importantly you get to decide what about you is cool. Maybe you think your hair is what’s cool. Or being the middle child you think is cool about you,” said Kelly.
The kids don’t know it yet, but eventually their words will become a poem. High School English Teacher Heather Reichenberg is hosting Hamilton and Kelly. She says having the couple in the classroom brings her subject to life and makes writing and poetry more accessible to students.
“They switch it up. They bring a lot of the world of writing and life after school with writing and the creativity of it back into the classroom. They re-liven sort of the educational experience that I want these kids to incorporate into standard education, which is that this is a creative process, it can be fun, and that their voices do matter,” said Reichenberg.
Reichenberg says with budget cuts on the horizon, the Artists in Schools program that brought Hamilton and Kelly to Homer High is becoming even more important in ensuring students can access the arts.
Asia Freeman is the Artistic Director at Bunnell Street Arts Center in Homer where she also runs the Artists in Schools program for the region. She says last year the program expanded to the Central Peninsula and she’s trying to grow it.
“Having served about 10 schools in the Homer area, we now have this wonderful fund from the Kenai Arts Guild. They provided $3,000 last year and we would like to do that again this year or grow it. But what we need to do is train more teaching artists,” said Freeman.
Teaching artists go through a 16-hour academy that ensures they have the tools they need for working with students. Artists in Schools is a trademark program of the Alaska State Council on the Arts funded by the state of Alaska with support from the Rasmuson Foundation. The program hosts visual artists, musicians, writers and more. Hamilton and Kelly say by the end of their week-long teaching residency they hope their students realize the power of writing and words – that they can raise consciousness and change the world.
“If I take my writing seriously I have the opportunity to affect the minds and hearts of legislators and that’s something that we like to express with the kids. You know that it’s important to be responsible with your writing you have the opportunity to affect change,” said Hamiliton.
Kelly adds that their work with students shows them how they can empower others through writing.
“Just being the voice of someone who doesn’t have the microphone, a stage and a audience. So, the woman who stands up and tells the story of being a rape survivor is speaking for thousands of women; Writing that piece about being bullied and getting past it; writing that piece about having a father that doesn’t get you and figuring out how you still get to be your own person is an act of social politics, is an act of change. So for them to know that their story at some point is not just theirs anymore – it’s empowering beyond words and we’re really excited to be a part of that,” said Kelly.
Right now the Kenai Peninsula Artists in Schools program is looking for more artists, especially to work with students in the Upper Peninsula. Artists, teachers and parents interested in the program can contact Bunnell Street Art Center in Homer.
