About Our Programs

Through assemblies, in‐class residencies, spoken word clubs, and after‐school workshops, Southern Word offers creative solutions for teaching literacy to reach learners with widely varying learning styles. Contact us to find out more about how we can partner with your school, business, or community organization.

Partner Schools and Organizations

Art for Life’s Sake
Austin Peay State University
Belmont University
Big Picture High School
Brick Church Middle School
Bridge Program of the YMCA
Cameron Middle School
Eagleville High School
Franklin Housing Authority
Gra-Mar Middle School
Hume Fogg Academic Magnet
Hunters Lane High School
Independence High School
J.E. Moss Elementary School
Jere Baxter Middle School
Juvenile Detention Center
Kipp Academy
Kirby High School
Lead Academy
Lipscomb University
Maplewood High School
Margaret Maddux Family YMCA
Martin Luther King Jr. Academic Magnet
Melrose High School
Monroe Harding
Nashville Public Library
Oakland High School
Oasis Center
Overton High School, Nashville
Overton High Schol, Memphis
Pearl Cohn Entertainment Magnet
Riverdale High School
River Road Academy
Rocketown
Smyrna West Alternative High School
Station Camp High School
Stratford High School
Tennessee State University
Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital
Vanderbilt University
Village Church
Y-CAP
YMCA artEMBRACE
Youth Empowerment Through Arts and Humanities

Arts‐in‐Education

Southern Word believes that programs which provide social and emotional support for youth help them succeed in school and in life. Contemporary research shows that social and emotional learning programs positively impact social and emotional skills, attitudes, behavior, mental health, school attendance, graduations rates, achievement test scores and school grades.

Wordshops

Spoken word artists conduct wordshops with partner youth agencies. Wordshops focus on building the writing and performance skills necessary to succeed in this summer’s open mics and poetry slams. More importantly, these skills are necessary to succeed in life. We deemphasize the competition to focus on the development of craft, voice, and identity. Participants have first opportunity to perform in performances and events.

University

MENTORING LITERACY THROUGH SPOKEN WORD
Day: Monday
Time: 6:00 ‐ 9:00p
Location: Peabody College at Vanderbilt University
Start Date: January 2011
End Date: May 2011

Developed in collaboration with Dr. Melanie Hundley (Assistant Professor, Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College); Bill Brown (Poet); and Anna West, (Founding Director, WordPlay Teen Writing Project).

With a unique confluence of education, arts, and youth leadership, spoken word poetry has become one of the most innovative literacy and leadership development tools over the past two decades. Students participating in spoken word programs report improvement in their reading and writing skills, increased self‐confidence, and a new sense of community among their peers and teachers. Educators report a clear rise in interest among students, a more youth‐driven learning environment, and evidence of greater social and academic confidence among students. Books for young children are awash with poetry—rhymes, rhythm, rich images, and language play. Children play word games. As children age, poetry often becomes something different; it is less playful, more serious. It is often viewed by students as something to be studied but not written. Students forget their initial fascination and love for words and poetry and begin to see poetry as something bounded by strict rules. Students develop perceptions of poetry that limit their view of it, of what it can offer them; they stop seeing themselves as creators of poetry and begin to see poetry as something out of their reach as writers. As William Stafford elucidated, “The question is not when I became a poet, but when other people stopped.”

In this weekly seminar, poet educators will share their writing philosophy and pedagogy, introducing participants to the fundamentals of engaging youth in literacy. Since contemporary spoken word redefines and emanates from hip hop youth culture, the course will also cover the history of hip hop as a framework for understanding youth values and perspectives in today’s classroom. Seminar participants will explore student experience and perspective as the starting point for education and learning, especially as it relates to their relationships and their family’s relationships to the institutions and systems which shape their world.

The coursework will include a 15 ‐ 20 hour classroom practicum at a local high school, middle school, or education based community partner. This course has limited availability and will have additional screening requirements since students will be working with youth in schools.

Stephanie Pruitt acts as lead instructor in the seminar. Benjamin Smith will serve as a co‐instructor for the seminar. The seminar will also feature guest presentations by some of the top poet educators and poet performers in the nation.