Poetry camp promotes SMARTS Arts in Education
One of Arts Davidson County's programs that we are most passionate about is our SMARTS Arts in Education. SMARTS Arts in Education's goal is to spark creativity and imagination through arts experiences with the overall goal to prepare students for creative lives and careers.
Arts Davidson County coordinates programming annually with qualified artists and school administrators in the three public school districts, as well as independent schools in the county. During summer 2022, ADC received a grant from Novant Health and contracted with Phillip Shabazz, a well-known poet, author, and teaching artist to bring his "Powers of Poetry Project" to Davidson-Davie Community college for a teen summer camp for up to 25 teens. The "Powers of Poetry Project" is a creative writing workshop which concludes with a celebratory Poetry Slam.
Students will have a hands-on experience of learning how to write different types of poems, share, give, and receive feedback. They will come away from the workshop with new capacities and ideas for improving their writing.. The Poetry Residency workshops build on themes including family, personal identity, friends, memories, and rhymes. In addition, the workshop combined writing, performance, and public speaking, with hands-on discussion, take-home assignments, and a poetry slam.
The arts not only enrich our lives, communities and culture, but they are vital to a child’s education. A strong arts education promotes the skills children need to be successful. Skills such as creativity, collaboration with their peers, confidence, cultural awareness, empathy, and critical thinking.
