PAL's annual citywide poetry jam

Who: PAL Youth 1st grade through 12th grade
What: PAL's annual Poetry Jam
Where: All 5 Boroughs in NYC
When: 2008-2013

Each Spring I look forward to visiting 8 PAL sites to work with thirty of NYC's young people. We work in small groups for two hours prepping them for the annual Poetry Jam. At the event, young people take the mic, youngest to oldest, while PAL staff and parents cheer them on. Each year, the PAL publishes a book of the contest winner's young poetry which I use as the primary text in teacher trainings.