blessing the boats
may the tide
that is entering even now
the lip of our understanding
carry you out
beyond the face of fear
Lucille Clifton
In the 2012-2013 school year, the Dodge Poetry in the Schools Program is directing a portion of its resources to bringing poetry to those who face the most challenging circumstances in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.
Our priority is to bring poetry to the high school communities who are most in need of the healing power of poetry.
In order for us to respond quickly and plan events for the winter and spring of 2013, we are using a simple survey to gather information. If you are interested, please return the survey by Friday, December 21st.
Understanding that you know the needs of your school better than we do, we would like to hear your ideas about how poets and poetry can contribute to your high school community’s health and healing during this difficult time. The Poetry in the Schools program works with high school students, as well as high school teachers. We will consider applications that bring poetry to students and/or teachers and staff.
We do have limited resources, and may not be able to meet all the demand, but we will begin contacting schools in early January, and hosting programs in the winter and spring of 2013 at no cost.
This opportunity is only open to New Jersey high schools.
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Survey Instructions
Please cut and paste the following questions into a Word document, and answer each question in 100-250 words. Title your document with the name of your school, and send your completed Word document survey as an attachment to poetryprogram(at)grdodge(dot)org with the subject “NAME OF SCHOOL_BTB”
1) Describe how your high school community was affected by Hurricane Sandy. You might include any information you have about how long school was closed; the number of students and staff whose homes were damaged or lost; physical damage to your high school building; negative effects on school events and extracurricular activities, and an assessment of overall student and staff well-being.
2) If you are interested in having a poet work with your students, please tell us how you feel a poet could contribute to the well-being of your students. How much time would you like them to spend during each visit, and how many visits would you like? Which students would the poet visit? What benefit would you like the students to experience?
3) If you are interested in having a poet work with your teachers, please tell us how you feel a poet could contribute to the well-being of your teachers. How much time would you like them to spend during each visit, and how many visits would you like? Which teachers would the poet work with? What benefit would you like the teachers to experience?
Your Name:
Your Position:
High School Name:
Town:
Email address:
Daytime Phone:
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Feel free to contact the poetry staff with any questions you may have:
Michele Russo, 973-540-8442 x113 mrusso(at)grdodge(dot)org
Rebecca Gambale, 973-540-8442 x130 rgambale(at)grdodge(dot)org
