Students had free range to write about whatever topic they chose — some were serious, others humorous. After each person shared their poem in class, the students collectively picked three peers to move onto the poetry slam competition, and a field of 15 was set.

Five seniors from an Advanced Placement English class were on hand to judge the poems on a scale of 1 to 10. Dunham said that Richard’s poem had the dozens of audience members captivated from the start.

“You could hear a pin drop while she was speaking but then when she finished it was like an explosion,” Dunham said. “People were jumping out of their seats and clapping. It was really beautiful and emotional to watch her.”

Dunham added that she is already looking forward to next year’s poetry slam, and so too is Principal Cliff Odell.

“To hear that we had an afternoon where our teachers created an event, our students willingly participated in something that was this personalized, this creative and educational,” he said, “it’s inspirational, it’s amazing.”