Nat'l Association of Poetry Therapy
"You Spit Rhymes?"
Presenters: Mary Tinucci
& Mallory Haar
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Millenium Hotel, Minneapolis

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This experiential training opportunity will be facilitated by Mary Tinucci. In this training, staff will experience the writing circle process and understand the impact of using culturally relevant poetry with youth. Staff will learn about ways in which writing (and reading) in group can bolster school engagement and pre-literacy skills, help youth understand themselves and others, and build social skills and positive youth community.  Mary will address various ways to make The Poetry Lab model accessible and adaptable for your group. *Please note:This workshop will be most useful for those of you working with youth in 5th-12th grade.

Joan Gudorf is the Social Worker at Harding's PSD program. Joan was among the first social workers to welcome and support The Poetry Lab when it began in March, 2004.  Since then, and as The Lab has grown, she has continued to host and help facilitate a variety of Lab activities at Harding PSD, including:  Georgia's weekly Wellness Lab, welcoming a volunteer writing mentor,  and spear-heading a new initiative to create a PSD mural, lead by two interns in the Visual Lab. When asked about her impressions of The Lab approach, Gudorf immediately responded, "Collaborative. I see The Lab working to build strong communication between our staff and theirs...we work together to define service delivery. Mary has always set the tone that 'you guys know your kids best,' and I appreciate that."

Gudorf believesThe Lab complements the work of the PSD staff, bringing in new elements to enrich the students' school experience: "The Lab staff/mentors bring a different expertise; the creative activities are important to our students, they aren't getting that as much in our program alone."  When asked to describe how students respond to The Lab approach, Joan explains that she thinks it is a refreshing change in the school day and encourages them to positively connect to their peers. It is this important piece of The Lab's objective-- to build community--  that is truly only made possible by school staff's collaboration with the program.  We thank Joan and the other staff for their support in our expansion this year.

Mary Tinuci and Mallory Haar will be presenting a workshop entitled: "You Spit Rhymes? Writing Circles, Poetry and Spoken Word Performance: Innovative Tools to Engage and Empower Urban Youth".  They will present their workshop on Saturday, April 5th, during the special Educators' Day created for this conference.   Participants will experience the writing circle and discuss how The Lab fosters a strong relationship between poetry and social justice.

Click Here for the Conference Flyer;

visit www.poetrytherapy.org/conference.html for more information about NAPT.