Spring Fundraiser in Los Gatos

On Saturday, June 4, 2016, poetry lovers and new poetry learners gathered in the home of California Poets in the Schools board member Guarav Khanna to go "poemcrazy!"

 

The house party, an invitational to help raise funds for CPitS, included a fine wine tasting, lovely hors d'oeuvres, and a chance to hear poems read by two of Board President John Oliver Simon's students from Claremont Middle School in Oakland.

Check out this link for the live streaming video!

Special Guest Susan Wooldridge, author of poemcrazy: freeing your life with words, lead the collected friends, students, teachers, neighbors, board members, and parents in her famous Word Pool exercise. Here's a photo of our word pool!

It was a great afternoon. Here are some of my photos.

Erica Goss and Suan Wooldridge poem crazy!

Jennifer Brown, Susan Wooldridge, Guarav Khanna, Erica Goss

Read more current CPitS news here. Donate to this wonderful cause here.

CPITS Campaign A Success Despite Missing the Mark

The CPITS indigogo campaign to raise $15,000 for poets in the schools is done. What an experience! I didn't know how hard it would be to ask for money, to keep asking for money, to remember to ask for money. And even though we fell short of our goal, we still raised a lot of money and even more awareness. I had fun pestering so many people. They were so nice about it!

As Karen Lewis, current CPITS Board Member and Secretary, wrote:

Your tax-deductible* contribution will help students learn to write poems like this:

PEARL

White as snow

as smooth as a knife

crying for its own

like ice cream melting in your mouth

hiding deep down waiting to open up and be free

crisp sugar like crystals in the bright sky

You're not all alone in this small world

~Charlene Neo, Grade 5
Marshall Pomeroy Elementary, Santa Clara County
Mara Sheade, poet-teacher

from Sing to the Heart of the Forest, 2013 Student Poetry Anthology

You can continue to contribute, order a copy of the anthology, find a teacher, and enjoy other student work at our website: www.cpits.org. Thank you!

Poetry for 1500 More Kids

For every $10 you donate to California Poets in the School (“CPitS”), one child can be exposed to the art of poetry, given the opportunity to learn from a published poet, and enabled to find their own inner voice to produce their own poems and share them with the world.

Here's the link to support CPitS!  http://igg.me/at/CPitS/x/4047592 

CPitS is a 501(c)3 organization that has provided K-12 students across more than 30 counties in California the opportunity to appreciate poetry and learn how to write their own poetry for the past 49 years.

CPitS works with published poets across California to place the poets into classrooms to work directly with students and open those students’ minds and hearts to the world of poetry.

Every year, the CPitS program enriches the lives of more than 25,000 students because:

• The academic curriculum is enhanced by teaching students about poetic forms, grammar, and literary tools like metaphors and personification (CPitS meets arts education standards adopted by the California Department of Education);
• Students are able to express their dreams and concerns in a constructive, nonjudgmental environment;
• Students realize their uniqueness and importance and build self confidence.

CPitS applies uncompromising standards to the poets it brings into each classroom, using only published poets who have undergone a rigorous training regimen.  Each “in-class” session is an hour long, and a poet will usually spend at least 5 sessions over several weeks with a particular classroom.  It costs CPitS around $75 to make each session happen.

Over the past few years, funding for CPitS has dropped, and CPitS has had to make tough decisions to pull out of classrooms in counties across the State.  Humboldt, Madera, Yolo, San Diego, and San Mateo counties have been hit particularly hard, losing CPitS poets in more than half of the schools in those counties that had been historically served.

This Campaign will put CPitS poets back into classrooms across the State.  If you can help us reach our campaign goal of $15,000, we will be able to reach 1,500 more students next year. 

Here's the link to support CPitS!  http://igg.me/at/CPitS/x/4047592 

And, thank you!!