The English classes of Fremd gathered in the Kolze auditorium to experience the joy of poetry, accompanied by some light-hearted judging on Sept. 27. 

Students read their various poems and flash fiction stories, and a group of judges were ready to write down their ratings with whiteboards and markers in hand. 

A few students from each English class volunteered to share their own pieces of writing in front of all the students present. The judges’ ratings offered an interactive aspect to the poetry slam and drew out both cheers and boos from the audience. 

The poems ranged from heart-wrenching to amusing anecdotes.

English teacher Gina Enk, one of the organizers of the poetry slam, described the variety of different writing and the appeal to the audience. 

“Every period had some standout students, which is always super fun to see what kids will come up with, as some poems were very serious and emotionally touching, and other poems were hilarious, and the crowd responded really well to both types,” Enk said. 

Enk continued how seeing the student audience response was impressive. With students having no idea what would happen during the poetry slam, everyone was still ready for a good time and very respectful of all the presenters. 

This was the first poetry slam held in Fremd for nearly 20 years, as the first one held at Fremd dates back to the early 1990s. There have been many English teachers over the years who were dedicated to organizing and hosting these poetry slams, as well as Writers Weeks. 

Sharing writing pieces has always been an integral part of Fremd through supporting students with poetry slams and Writers Week, offering them the opportunity to showcase their writing. 

English teacher Russell Anderson, who also helped organize the poetry slam, shared the importance of students sharing their writing. 

“We want to continually show students that writing is important, and it can take up space in our lives in both fun and introspective ways. It gives an additional space to celebrate writing beyond Writers Week,” Anderson said. 

Anderson explained how sharing writing helps create community, and brings all the freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors together to celebrate each other and their writing. 

“The audience celebrating the judges or celebrating the pieces made it a fun day, but when the period ends, and the students come up on stage and they say to somebody they’ve never met before that theirs was a really cool poem, those moments are always really nice,” Anderson said.