LCS Hosts its 2nd Annual Poetry Slam

On Friday, February 19, LCS held its second annual Seb Jones ’13 Memorial Poetry Slam. Throughout the evening, we focused not only on celebrating creativity but also speaking about mental health, and keeping Sebastian’s legacy alive. Associate Faculty member, Maxwell McEachern ’13 opened the event by sharing some of his fond memories with Seb. “Seb Jones was my buddy, one of my closest here at Lakefield. He lived over in Matthews House and was a sporty outdoorsman, keen canoeist, an artist, and a friend to all who knew him.” 

Thank you to our judges Brent Hurley (English and the Writer's Craft teacher at Trinity College School), Sam King (assistant head of Wadsworth boarding house at LCS and teacher of history and geography), Kat Crawford P’23, Jen Giffen (York Region District School Board Teacher Librarian), Leslie Fagen (instructional technology coach from Georgia), Jeewoo Lee ’21, and Nicole Liu ’21 who had the task of assessing our students’ performances. Each work was considered with regard to its delivery, lines/stanzas, theme development, audience awareness, introduction and conclusion. The competition was friendly and saw our students performing their original poetry works for peers, teachers and staff who tuned in virtually from their cohorted groups across campus. Students from Trinity College School and Rosseau Lake College School also tuned into the event to participate alongside LCS.

As an oral text, the performance aspect of this genre is distinct from others that our students study, which makes it a crucial part of the learning experience and a wonderful tool to develop verbal and non-verbal language skills. It requires courage, builds confidence and challenges students to find their voice and express it in an authentic way — with a live performance in front of an audience. It’s also great fun!

 

Cam Eatmon ’23 reflected on her experience at the Poetry Slam, “This event was really special because I got to share my writing with other people and I got to watch others perform their writing as well. What I love about spoken word poetry is that it is so powerful. We never understand how powerful and beautiful words are until they're performed out loud.” When asked about how she prepared for the Poetry Slam, Cam said, “I prepared by practicing my poem a few times to myself and I showed some of my friends the poem to see if they liked it so I felt more confident in performing it.” 

 

Isabelle Kim ’23 also shared her passion for spoken word poetry, speaking about the power of this art form. “One of the things that I think makes spoken word poetry so beautiful is that its beauty extends beyond words written on a piece of paper. There is something so powerful about the way emotions are unraveled through the delivery of just a single word or sentence, and the way a pause of silence can speak just as loud. Spoken word poetry has the ability to connect with people on a deeper level.”

 

Our students did a truly incredible job - they poured their creativity and emotions into the written works they presented. Poems ranged in topic from the deeply personal to broader social issues to existential pondering. Regardless of the topic, our students crafted authentic works of art that came alive during their performance. 

A warm congratulations to the following Grade 9 and 10 poets

Isabelle Kim ’23 - Spiritual Footprint -  Reckless Regret

Charlie Ward ’23 - Silhouettes Against the Dawn

Camryn Eatmon ’23 - Flowers will Bloom

Waylon Fiorotto-Bickert ’23 - Plight of the Latest

Sarah Ferguson ’23 - A Walking Stereotype

We were also treated to a wonderful intermission performance by Ryosuke Tagwa ’21, Gaku Ogawa ’22, and Oguzhan Turkone '22 who played the keyboard and drums periodically throughout the evening.

Congratulations also  to our Grade 11 and 12 students and guest poets from TCS:

Nicole Liu ’21 (Winner of the TT Contest) - Say, what does it mean to live

Tristan Mellville ’21 - Like Arnold

Olivia Webb ’22 (TCS Grade 11)

Dylan Clement ’21 - Relapse

Ellie Murdock ’21 - That was it

Agnes Grabcova ’21 (TCS Grade 12)

Julie Cook ’21 - Silence

Michael Cheaito ’21 - Untitled

Lily Bowman ’21 - Black and White, No Justice No Peace

Ben Watt ’21 - Untitled