National Poetry Month with The Chestnut Hill School

I had a great time working with @thechestnuthillschool during National Poetry Month in April! I had a busy day full of writing workshops with 3rd graders, a school assembly performance for grades 1-6, and ended the day with a faculty workshop on the significance of our neighborhoods and how where we grow up shapes our identities.

The third grade workshops were so fun as I had the kiddos think about what would happen if their favorite foods could TALK! Lots of laughs were had, and what was beautiful is hearing students talk positively about eating food! No calorie talk. No guilt or shame talk. Body liberation work should start young, because our kiddos are receiving messages early in their lives on beauty standards and norms, gendered expectations, and body shape and size expectations. 

​Later that afternoon I worked with all employees at CHS in a creative workshop called, "The Places That Make Us." This workshop brought participants back to where they grew up as I asked folks to draw a representation of their childhood neighborhood. Then we wrote poems inspired by the maps they created. What really struck me was the power of creativity and vulnerability. When employees began sharing their maps and poems with each other the laughter, energy, happiness, and connection was palpable! 

I am thankful to extraordinary librarian, Erin Piper for inviting me to work with her students and Chestnut Hill School!