In-Classroom programs have students read, write, perform, and discuss poetry weekly. Dynamic, engaging, and fun programs for students grades 2-12.
Includes:
- Weekly poetry sessions
- Student publication
- Student performance
- CPDUs for teachers
- Poetry portfolios for every student
- Dedicated teaching artist
Virtual, in-person, or in combination as needed. Details on remote support and everything included with the program: here.
After-school and non-classroom settings, this program is for poetry clubs, teams, or celebrating a culture of poetry and expression at your school.
Includes:
- Weekly poetry sessions
- Student performance & open mics
- CPDUs for teachers
- Poetry portfolios for every student
- Dedicated teaching artist
- Student team building
Can be tailored to include field trips and coaching. Virtual, in-person, or in combination as needed. Learn more here.
Assemblies can be performed for a class, grade, or the whole school, on poetry in general or a particular theme. Workshops for one or more class can be added on.
Includes:
- 3 engaging performance poets
- Educational information on poetry
- Interactive elements including student interviews
- Themes include “Voices of Chicago,” “Social Justice,” and more.
Virtual and in-person. Our remote assemblies have students engaging and responding online. To customize and book for your school, learn more here.
Ready to bring poetry to your community? Email us at programs@poetrycenter.org
Student Poems Published Weekly
Ready to bring poetry to your community? Email us at programs@poetrycenter.org
Meet Our Poets in Residence
Our teaching artists are active Chicago poets, internationally touring performers, and published authors active in the Chicago literary scene. They are also skilled educators trained in our program methodology. Click on their headshots below to read their bios, or find our full list of teaching artists here.
Reserve Programs for Your School
Want to know more? Reach out to us at programs@poetrycenter.org, and let us know if you’re interested in In-School Residencies, After-School Residencies, or Pop Ups. Not sure? That’s alright, we can talk you through the options when you reach out.s leo.
Program Values & Opportunities
We believe in creative literacy, arts education, the possibilities opened by poetry. We believe in equitably, high-quality programming for all, and strive support schools across the district (and beyond) through our scholarship program and affordable programming. We believe that Chicago’s poets are valuable educators to add into the school day and after.
The Chicago Poetry Center actively collaborates across disciplines and organizations, and our education programs and school partners are frequently the beneficiary of such collaborations. Recent collabs have included students reading original work at Symphony Center, a poetry mural in North Lawndale’s Douglas Park, and additional free workshops for our classrooms featuring journalists from the Pulitzer Center.
