Creative Writing students will have the rare opportunity to learn from a spoken word teacher and artist, Regie Cabico.

A spoken word pioneer, Cabico has had many television credits including Tedx, HBO’s Def Poetry Jam, NPR’s Snap Judgement and MTV’s Free Your Mind. He has also won top prizes in three National Poetry Slams.

Cabico will be working alongside English and Creative Writing Teacher Soo Jin Lee in spoken word poetry workshops.

The beginning unit for the Creative Writing class will be poetry where students will not only be writing poems but also performing in front of live audiences.

“I really want students to be engaged with the poetry unit,” Lee said. “I think that memorizing their poems and performing it in front of a live audience will make it more exciting.”  

Through the wide-open window for creativity in the class, students will be able to write their own poetry and perform it to their liking in a spoken word fashion.

“I hope that everyone will be empowered by the time they perform their own words because everyone has a story,” Lee said.

Spoken word poetry workshops will be taking place not only in the Creative Writing class but in the Strategies for Success class as well.

Creative Writing, a new class to AHS this school year has sparked interest from many students.

The class has an interesting and unique curriculum which intends to enhance and allow for more student expression through multiple forms of writing and literature.

With this being the first school year where spoken word poetry is available for students, there is strong hope that the program will continue to grow and branch out in coming years.

“It would be awesome if we have a spoken word club in the future or student communities for spoken word that naturally come out of what we do this school year,” Lee said.

Ultimately, spoken word opens up opportunities for student expression through writing and performing while also encouraging students to work outside of their comfort zones.

“I want students to feel poetry is live and real so that they can embody it,” Lee said. “I also want them all to know that their voice counts.”