Famous Slam Poet Works with Wilde Lake Middle Students

This week, Gayle Danley a well-known slam poet, began her two week "Artist in Residence" program here at Wilde Lake Middle School. On Wednesday, she performed for all of our 8th graders many of her thought provoking poems that have won her national acclaim. She demonstrated her amazing orating, story telling and performing talents that have earned her several national awards! 

What is Slam?

Slam combines movement, voice, drama and the written word for an unforgettable spoken word experience. Slam made its debut back in the late 1980’s in Chicago when a local poet named Marc Smith grew tired of the stale presentations of poetry that seemed to pervade the coffee shops and libraries around town. Thus Slam was born as a way of expressing oneself briefly, powerfully and impactfully. (Source: Gayle Danley's Website)

Over the next two weeks, Gayle will be working with our 8th graders as they create their own slam poems. On February 17th, our students will share their poems during our Slam Poetry Reading. I can't wait to see and hear the poems that will be created by our students under the guidance and inspiration of Ms. Danley. 

I want to thank Gayle Danley for coming to our school and the Howard County Arts Council for helping to fund the Artists-in-Residence Educational Program for our students.

 

 

Thanks to Ms. Lebowitz and Ms. Berla for organizing this
special program!