By: Abigale Moran ‘23
The Academy of American Poets first established National Poetry Month in 1996. Although Lawrence Academy’s celebrations of poetry in April have only recently broadened, Poetry Month has quickly grown more popular across campus.
With help from both the Library Squad and Literary Magazine club, along with many community members, the celebration of National Poetry Month is now an LA tradition.
After weeks of preparation, the Library Squad held its 3rd annual poetry recitation to celebrate Poetry Month with help from the Environmental Sustainability Club and Literary Magazine. Since the recitation happened just a day before Earth Day, the clubs encouraged students and faculty to recite poems that correlated to the themes of nature, the environment, and the Earth. Mako Muvirimi ‘24, a student who participated in the recitation, said, “It was a phenomenal experience! I felt very comfortable at the event and seeing other LA students stepping up made me feel good in my own shoes. I believe the poetry recitation was also so successful because of the timing and weather. I think that the recitation should happen twice a year so we can come together as a community more often.”
As well as the poetry recitation, the Library Squad, with the help of the school’s English department, organized a poetry walk that was started last year. The club took poems made by current students and displayed them across the quad in April, and throughout May, will be moving the “walk” to different areas of campus. When asked about her thoughts on participating in the walk, Lily Hogan ‘26 said, “I really enjoyed having my poem in the walk because it gave me the chance to share my work with my peers in a way that didn’t feel forced. If they felt like reading my poem, then they could. It was also nice because when my family came to visit me from Maine, I got to show them what I’ve been working on, and it felt nice to connect with them over it after not seeing them in person for so long.” Like Lily, many believed the walk was not only a great way for students to share their work but also a way for some to connect with the greater community through poetry and literature.
Even outside of the celebrated month, poetry is still present both inside the classroom and out. Laura Moore, an English teacher at Lawrence Academy said, “Poetry and high school kids are just meant to be together. Poetry is always ready to focus high thought and feeling, and high schoolers are overflowing with both. So many people have been amazed by the depth of meaning and its accessibility in the poems shared at the open mic readings and in the poetry walk displays, and I am so glad that we are dedicating time and space throughout April for that amazement to happen community wide. I'm hoping the big takeaway for everyone from poetry month at LA is that poetry doesn't just belong in the English classroom. It belongs everywhere.”
Many students and faculty helped make this year’s Poetry Recitation and Walk happen and as the end of the school year approaches, the release of the literary magazine comes as well. This magazine holds student artwork, writings, and more poetry which also supports students’ ability to share their work with the LA community. Although Poetry Month has passed, we hope to have more recitations, like the one held in April, throughout the school year in the future.