Poetry rules at KHS
Courtesy photo Kellogg High School student Sage Bryant reads an original poem during KHS’s poetry reading night last week.
KELLOGG — Kellogg High School’s creative writing class recently put on a poetry reading night at the school, an evening that showcased the immense poetic talent that teacher Kelton Enich has been cultivating.
Enich, a second-year teacher at KHS, has been planning to have poetry readings since she found out that she would be teaching a creative writing class.
“I think it is so important for students to be granted the opportunity to share their personal work with their peers to build confidence and open up a dialogue about things that matter to them,” Enich said. “It was completely optional for them to volunteer to read and there were a lot of creative writing students in the audience in addition to parents, teachers and other students not in creative writing.”
Enich has been involved in creative writing and poetry reading events like these since she was in high school, and passing that love on to her students has been something that she has enjoyed, but getting the students to be comfortable with sharing their writing was an obstacle that Enich had to conquer first.
“Being part of my own creative writing program when I was in high school was the most influential part of my entire schooling experience and the thing that sticks out most in my formative years of high school,” Enich said. “I teach two creative writing elective classes with close to 60 students total. On the first day of school, almost 100 percent of my students said there was ‘no way they'd share their own work in front of other people.’ But on Tuesday night, 18 students performed original poetry in front of a crowd of over 90 people.”
The students had been working on their poems since September, with several of the poems going through multiple drafts and revisions while covering a vast array of topics.
“They shared poetry about things they care about: about hunting, family, trucks, flowers, windows,” Enich said, “about bullies, sexual orientation, equality, feminism, theater, broken speakers, Idaho, grandparents, (and) the color purple. There was quite a smattering of topics.”
The audience reaction and turnout was something Enich wasn’t expecting for it being a first-time event, but her students came ready and blew the expectations away.
“I was overwhelmed with the positive feedback and success of the event. Many students told me they're excited about the next poetry reading and many of the ones who didn't read this time are planning on reading at the next one,” Enich said. “I'm really impressed with the level of my students' writing and performance considering most of them are beginner creative writers. They have already matured so much as writers since the beginning of the year.”
Enich and her students are planning on having at least two more readings this year, including a poetry slam night and also a poetry/art mash-up event that promotes more of the creativity that walks the halls of Kellogg High School.