St. Louis
National Poetry SLAM!
Joschula P. of Patrick Henry and Marcus J. of Jefferson Elementary represented St. Louis at the National Poetry SLAM at the Apollo Theater in New York this April.
Joschula loves poetry because “It’s like painting a picture with words. You express your feelings and try to capture the emotions of your audience.”
Joschula’s Reflection of the Apollo Experience
When we arrived at the Apollo, everyone was excited. We all ran up the long flight of steps into our very own dressing rooms where we sat our bags. That’s when I realized that I was at the Apollo Stage…THE REAL THING! We got to go up on the stage and practice our poems. Then we practiced our group poem with Martha Reeves. That part was really fun because Martha Reeves taught us some old dance moves like the Mash Potato, the twist, and the old style jerk. One by one our groups were called for us to go say our poems. When my group went I was not scared at all. I got up there and gave it my all.
At the end of the SLAM we had a dessert reception. I felt like a superstar. People came up and asked me questions, and took pictures. It was fantastic, but it could not last forever. I said my last goodbyes to all of my new made friends and then headed off to the airport. As the plane took off and the once huge skyscrapers of New York turned into little small black dots, I already started to reminisce and think about all the fun that I had in New York, The Empire State.
Watch our poet-athletes speak with confidence in front of their communities at our local Poetry SLAM each year:
America Scores St. Louis Poetry SLAM- “Where I’m From”
America SCORES St. Louis Poetry SLAM- “Rain”
America SCORES St. Louis Poetry SLAM- “Education”
Read our national student magazine featuring original poetry from our poet-athletes:
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