The V.O.I.C.E. Comes to Harvey

It was a day dedicated to the art of writing and performing poetry at The Harvey School Wednesday as 25 students and their English teachers participated in a workshop on what is popularly called “Spoken Word Poetry.”

World renowned spoken word poets Sarah Kay and Phil Kaye spent a good part of the day and evening at Harvey working with the Upper School English students on how to write and perform their own poetry.  The workshop is called Project V.O.I.C.E. (Vocal Outreach Into Creative Expression). The two founders describe their workshop as a way to encourage creative self-expression through Spoken Word Poetry which is based on three founding principles: Entertainment, Education, and Inspiration.

English teacher Alex Lindquist said, “We invited Sarah and Phil to inspire, entertain, and educate our students about performance poetry, and they most certainly did. Our students seemed to thoroughly enjoy the opportunity and you could practically feel the excitement for writing in the air.”

After the afternoon workshop, the two poets joined the English department for an informal dinner to discuss ways to teach poetry in the classroom. The evening ended with a live performance where the two artists dazzled students and parents with their poetry.

English teacher Maggie Hooton was delighted with the performance. “The amazing power of the spoken word was so evident in the mouths of these two, young poets. Their poems were poignant, eloquent, intense and humorous in turn and their performance absolutely riveting. I didn't want it to end and the students obviously felt the same way.”

When Harvey has conducted its annual school-wide poetry recitation contest the past few spring semesters, spoken word poems have dominated the types of verse students have chosen for their readings.

The Harvey School, located in Katonah, is a coeducational college-preparatory school for students in grades 6 through 12.