MPR’s Kate Moos reports on Minnesota Poets in the Schools Program (now COMPAS). Includes interviews with John Caddy and Randy Jennings, who describe program. Caddy also reads poem by a fourth grade student at St. Croix Catholic School in Stillwater, entitled “Wolf, Dark of NIght.”

Transcript:

(00:00:00) In the early days of the program. It was very hard. I think to persuade some schools that poetry and Poets and artists and wild-haired people like that were you know legitimate things to have in the classroom
(00:00:17) John caddy has been teaching grade school and high school students poetry since the poets in the schools program started in Minneapolis, 20 years ago.
(00:00:27) I can recall one Minneapolis school that two different poets. Were thrown out of by the principle of because their hair was too long and in one case, I was locked out of his building, you know, he went around to all the doors and lock them as I tried to, you know, come back and do my
(00:00:50) job caddy recalls other minor tragedies along the way being kept for surveillance in a principal's office. There was the poet who made the unforgivable mistake of thrashing Joyce Kilmer in the poet's Down Wenonah the poet who was accused of teaching pornography because of a poem he read about a father changing a baby sons diaper, but all that was years ago. This year says Randy Jennings, the program's director. There will be 50 poets visiting schools around the state originally intended as an approach to get students to read poetry with the genuine article a poet In the Flesh at hand it quickly turned to teaching the writing of poetry now all kinds of artists spend. Of residency in the public schools. Jennings says the purpose in part is to teach children to use art as a form of self-expression and a tool for building relationships and for seeing the world
(00:01:45) the work that writers and artists do doesn't have right and wrong answers. It isn't correct or incorrect. It isn't testable or gradable in the way that regular curricular schoolwork is and as a result, I think creates a sense of wonder or excitement or at the very lowest level. Level just willingness to
(00:02:04) participate The Poets have proven to have a broad and sometimes surprising appeal poet caddy says watching the children right maybe a humbling experience because of the ease with which they unloose their creativity.
(00:02:18) One thing. I'm always impressed with is the extent to which kids who are not You're across the board a student succeed in this program. It's absolutely fascinating. the I can't think of a residency when some kid who's a kind of a c student in English hasn't written a brilliant piece because it's based in their person in their life and their experience and it's something they've really wanted to say, but they've never felt excess, you know to the to the language
(00:02:57) before the writers in the schools program has published several anthologies of school children's work their contents range from the hilarious to The Haunting as in this poem by a fourth grade girl. Named Aaron Hicks at st. Croix Catholic School in Stillwater entitled wolf dark of night. John caddy reads
(00:03:18) wolf dark of night. Do not harm me wolf dark of night. I'd give my heart for my family my arms for my friends wolf dark of night. You killed by the law and eat by your hunger wolf dark of night rolling over all creeping crawling things eat my spirit. Oh my blood. I too know the law kill or be killed eat or be eaten oppress the weak. Obey the strong kill your hunger. They will see my blood in a puddle wolf dark of night my blood bitter from Death My Flesh sour from sickness. My bones filling of the fresh meat wolf dark of night. Kill me eat me and fulfill your
(00:04:08) destiny. Poet John Cady reading wolf dark of night by Aaron Hicks the writers in the schools program is celebrating its 20th anniversary.