Third Period: Slam Poetry. Fourth Period: Health

With aid from a NEA Grant, the Berkshire Arts and Technology Charter Public School now offers a class on slam poetry as part of their ongoing program "Exploring Big Questions: Inquiry and the Arts". A significant aspect of the course is bringing artists into the classroom, with the most recent invitee being slam poet Taylor Mali. The school's Executive Director, Julia Bowen, had the following to say about bringing artists to the course, and the importance of the financial help the NEA offers:

"He'll be coming in for a few days to work with our students in English class and doing a public performance. This grant is an extension of the support for our ongoing work of integrating arts in to many of our regular classes."

"This grant is a fantastic opportunity to expand this program even more, and it is really fantastic to receive this kind of support from the National Endowment for the Arts. I'm sure they have a high bar for identifying programs that are working. We feel very honored to get their continuing support."

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