Ninth grader Tessa Kowarsky (center, holding flowers) won the AHS annual Poetry Out Loud contest on Dec. 4. She’s flanked on the left by runner-up Marissa Leary, a senior, and on the right by Gaby Ramos, a sophomore, who took third place. Behind them are the 20 other students who participated in the contest.
Reminder Publishing photo by Mike Lydick
AGAWAM — Students at Agawam High School had an inspiring day on Dec. 4 when the creative skills of students in English and art classes were showcased.
In the morning, students participated in the school’s 11th annual Poetry Out Loud contest. They recited poems selected from an online collection.
The goal: memorize a poem and then convincingly recite it, word for word, line by line in front of their peers and judges.
For the first round, 23 students competed. The field of contestants narrowed to 13 students for the second and final round. Ninth grader Tessa Kowarsky won the schoolwide contest while Marissa Leary, a senior, was the runner-up. Gaby Ramos, a sophomore, took third place. Kowarsky will now represent AHS in a regional competition next year.
In the evening, the school displayed the creative talents of art students during its annual Winter Arts Festival. However, this year there was a new twist to the event. Art students also created artwork that was inspired by poems from classmates in English classes.
The first collaboration between English and art classes, it was called Who’s the Muse: Art Inspiring Poetry That Inspires.
“Who’s the Muse, is a little play on words about who is really the inspiration and who is really the inspired,” said English teacher Vanessa Violette.
Reminder Publishing photo by Mike Lydick
Students in English classes chose a famous painting or drawing that inspired them to write a poem about it. Art students then used the poems as their inspiration to create a drawing or painting.
“My classes really enjoyed this project,” said art teacher Amber Waters. “They worked hard on their artistic interpretations and took the process very seriously.”
Madison Georgina used an image of a black and white mural that an artist in England had created based on the 1994 crime film, “Pulp Fiction.” It showed two of the film’s stars pointing what appear to be guns.
Georgina said he liked the idea of a collaboration between English and art classes.
“I found it interesting because we got to see how literature and art connect,” he said.
Haylee Marsili, also a 10th grader, thought the first-year cross-curricular project was a good idea — especially since she wrote a poem and then created artwork based on her artistic interpretation of another student’s poem.
“I liked how I was able to have both sides of it. In English class I was able to write a poem and then in my art class I got to interpret a poem in my artwork. So, I was able to have both views of the project,” she said.
The image Marsili chose was a sunset with mountains in the foreground. She was pleased with how a classmate interpreted her poem.
“I think they got it pretty well. I just think they kind of missed some of the colors that I put in the poem, but they did get the sunset and the mountains that were in the original image,” she said.
Student poems, a copy of the original artwork that inspired their poems and students’ interpretations of those poems were displayed at the festival.
The idea of a collaborative lesson between the two departments was inspired by a conversation between Waters, who also organizes the Winter Arts Festival, and Violette. They also decided to hold both the Poetry Out Loud contest and the arts festival on the same day. English teachers Sable Johnson and Elizabeth Labruna also were involved in the planning. Violette said the four teachers “all believe strongly” that art imitates life.
“In the book ‘Fahrenheit 451’ that 10th graders are reading, there’s a scene where the futuristic society depicted in the book has given up appreciating all forms of realistic art, and instead relies on abstract art to express themselves,” Violette said.
“It seemed like the perfect entry point to collaborate with the art department on a lesson about inspiration in general, and the danger of a future society without an open creative outlet,” she added.
Waters said it’s always good when teachers can show connections between subjects.
“It allows our students to think a little deeper and gain from creative collaborations. Anytime departments can work together, it creates a more enriching experience for our student body. This collaboration demonstrated the real-world connections we want our students to learn and benefit from,” Waters said
Violette said collaboration is a 21st century skill that teachers feel is important to model. “So, as colleagues, pairing up and taking on a large project like this one — and at the same time having students collaborate — will hopefully teach the importance in planning and working together to students twofold.”
