The following article was written and published in The Liberator: Volume 22 Issue 2 (Winter 2011)
Valley High School has been hosting the Poetry Slam for about a decade. The first slam took place in the undersized gym filled with couches at our old Valley building. Lisa Kolstad said, “It really set the mood; the floors creaked, the lighting was bad, and the machines hummed in the background.”
Former Valley English teacher Jeff Metcalf was inspired by his friend, local writer David Lee, Utah’s first Poet Laureate, at Southern Utah University. David was invited to perform his poetry for Valley students who enjoyed all the great stories he had to tell, they enjoyed his perfomances so much that Jeff and Lisa decided they would begin a great traditions, now known as the POetry Slam.
The first poetry slam occurred in 2000, the year Jeff retired. It was just like the ones that you see here, where the students and teachers got together to read poetry, whether written by themselves or some other great writer. The second Poetry Slam was quite different than the first. Lisa got her Theatre class together to have them perform some things they had been working on in her class. Jeff’s creative writing classes read the original plays they had written.
Vickie Barker, a Valley English teacher, was appointed to lead the slam and the publication “Off The Wall” after Mindy Dummer left to explore new horizons. Despite the challenge, Vickie successfully hosted the event with help from MCs Ian Wallace, Courtney Solt, and Heather Rapp. “It was scary since it is something close to Lisa’s heart,” Vickie said. “I just wanted it to be perfect.” Lisa said during the slam, “Thank you Vickie for taking charge at something so dear to me and dong such a great job at it!”
“The Poetry Slam is a great outlet for our students, and a great way for them to open up to others and express themselves,” said Principal Don Link. It brings confidence out in the ones who you least expected such as Emma Chance, who had the bravery to sing not only once but twice. Alex Gisa read a song in on session and in the session faced his stage fright and went up to sing it with the lights off; which was really cool. He had an unexpectedly amazing voice.
The Poetry Slam allows students to reveal things about themselves that are more personal. Jelaire Peacock got up to read more than anyone. She opened up to the crowd about her grandma who had passed and about other members in her family, including herself. Leaire’s dad, Syd Peaccock said, “I think the Poetry Slam is tremendous! It lets everyone share something about who they really are.” Don Link and Vickie Barker both said, “The Poetry Slam is a great way to support writing and promote it as well. It is a great publishing opportunity if submitted into “Off the Wall.”
Having the Slam biannually always brings in old but not forgotten faces such as Valley Alumni, Valley teacchers, and Valley staff. It brought back former vice-principal Sharon Jensen to visit. After she shared her inspiring poem, she almost went into tears as she explained how much she missed her Valley Family and how lucky we truly are to be here. It brought back Mindy Dummer, who got up to pour her heart out about how Valley will always be the place she truly belongs. Multiple Valley alumni also attended, including Kristen Crane and Aaron Garcia who graduated in 2010, and Reese Wallace and Cindy Wong who graduated in 2008.
As students filled into the atrium, staff members from Off the Wall handed out raffle tickets at the main doors. At the end of each session, Don Link pulled around twelve tickets out to twelve lucky winners and handed the students one of the many great prizes. The prizes given out were Valley backpacks with a Valley t-shirt inside, candy, movie tickets, iTunes gift cards, vending machine dollars, a week’s worth of free lunches, and autographed photos of Jazz basketball players C.J. Miles and Paul Millsap. Don also invited Valley students to coffee and donuts, which is a plus!
The Poetry Slam seems to be something that everyone enjoys year after year! Each time it brings new suprises and new talent. Valley will continue to keep this outstanding tradition for years to come.
The Hoot 
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