This Tuesday, be thankful for poetry in schools, for creative literacy opportunities in underserved communities and for lines like these from our students:
I’m from the city lights / Streaming out in the night / And huge skyscrapers / Towering over the lake
– Melissa E., 7th Grade Poet
Are you big like the Sears Tower / Or are you small like a little doctor?
-Yuisa A., 4th Grade Poet
Donate to the Poetry Center of Chicago on Giving Tuesday and all of your donation will go towards supporting the Hands On Stanzas program.
How does the Hands On Stanzas work? Chicago teaching poets are placed in Chicago Public Schools for twenty week residencies with a few classes in the school–generally they stay with their class October through April, and so have the chance to develop relationships and build students’ skills and confidence with genuine impact. The program works on two models: Subscriber schools pay an affordable rate to bring the program into their school and Scholarship schools are awarded a residency at no cost–this ensure that poetry and creative literacy opportunities exist where they are needed most. Hands On Stanzas students show exceptional improvement in reading, writing, and general academic confidence over the course of a residency. Our program makes a difference throughout Chicago, while also providing paid teaching opportunities for Chicago Poets.
And so! The Poetry Center of Chicago has joined #GivingTuesday, a first of its kind effort that will harness the collective power of a unique blend of partners—charities, families, businesses and individuals—to transform how people think about, talk about and participate in the giving season. Coinciding with the Thanksgiving Holiday and the kickoff of the holiday shopping season, #GivingTuesday will inspire people to take collaborative action to improve their local communities, give back in better, smarter ways to the charities and causes they support and help create a better world. #GivingTuesday is taking place December 2, 2014 – the Tuesday after Thanksgiving.
Interested in supporting the Poetry Center of Chicago or learning more about giving Tuesday? Donate directly to us by clicking the red DONATE button here: https://www.poetrycenter.org/support/ and while on our site, check our our most recent blog posts of student poets’ phenomenal work, or sign up for our newsletter to keep posted. You can follow us at www.fb.com/poetrycenter or @poetrycenterchi on Twitter.
“#GivingTuesday is a counter narrative to Black Friday and Cyber Monday because it reminds us that the spirit of the holiday giving season should be about community and not just consumerism,” said Kathy Calvin, CEO of the UN Foundation. “The most meaningful gift we can give our children, loved ones, friends and neighbors is the commitment to work together to help build a better world.”
