Center student voices through the power of performance poetry during this 90-minute crash course.
Thursday, April 19 // 6-8 PM CT
Admission is free! Please RSVP.
Hosted at Britannica HQ
325 N LaSalle St, Suite 200 // Chicago, IL 60654
Impact youth? This workshop is for you. Learn how to release the force of performance poetry in your students in just 90 minutes. Hosted by Britannica Digital Learning at Britannica’s historic Chicago headquarters, Young Chicago Authors (YCA) will lead a hands-on workshop for educators that teaches how to use spoken word and poetry to center student voices on the issues that impact them and build literacy skills in new and engaging ways.
Led by YCA master teacher, co-author of the book of poems Home Court, and co-host of the poetry podcast, The Poetry Gods, José Olivarez will guide educators through an immersive evening of creative writing, performance, and discussion.
Participants will walk away with:
• A deeper understanding of spoken word and its value in the community and classroom
• A toolkit of concrete ideas, sample curriculum, and detailed student activities that use performance poetry and creative writing to meet Common Core objectives
• A thank you gift to take home
• Certificates of attendance are available
Workshop participants will enjoy a special performance of award-winning work from YCA’s “Bomb Squad” of elite young poets, as well as complimentary food and drinks.
Please RSVP here.
About workshop master teacher, José Olivarez:
José Olivarez is the son of Mexican immigrants, the co-author of the book of poems Home Court, and the co-host of the poetry podcast, The Poetry Gods. He is a graduate of Harvard University and the Marketing Manager at Young Chicago Authors. A winner of a 2016 Poets House Emerging Poet Fellowship and a 2015 Bronx Recognizes Its Own award from the Bronx Council on the Arts, his work has been published in The BreakBeat Poets, Vinyl Poetry and Prose, The Chicago Tribune, & Brooklyn Magazine, among other places. He is from Calumet City, IL, and lives in Chicago. Follow him on social media at @_joseolivarez.
About Young Chicago Authors:
Through creative writing, Young Chicago Authors helps young people from all backgrounds to understand the importance of their own stories and those of others, so that they can pursue the path they choose and work to make their communities more just and equitable.
YCA exposes young people to hip-hop realist portraiture and teaches them how to create their own authentic narratives through a variety of arts education programs both in and out of the classroom. These programs include free Education Partnerships for qualifying Chicago schools, free weekly writing workshops and open mics for young poets, journalists, and emcees, and Louder Than A Bomb, the largest youth poetry slam in the country.
About Britannica Digital Learning:
Our mission is simple; to ignite curiosity and spread the joy of discovery. Future dreamers, leaders, and builders depend on educators every day to help them learn to examine their world more deeply. We partner with over half of all U.S. schools and 1.6 million teachers, reaching over 25 million students, to provide them with effective, enriching, and innovative tools, resources, and ideas to meet the needs of their students and communities.
