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Click the gray arrow below to enjoy a creative poem/recording by Jackson 6th grade poets!

Click the gray arrow below to hear this great poem!  It was written by a Jackson 6th Grader who came to The Lab to write, record and perform.

In May, we participated in a wonderful collaboration between The Lab and Sarah Walbrusch’s 6th grade classroom from Jackson Elementary. The Lab staff, volunteers and four Lab High School Poets, mentored the 6th graders in writing, poetry/spoken word performance and recording.  It was an amazing experience.   We are proud of the 6th graders and all of the great poetry that they wrote, recorded and performed. We are proud of our 4 High School Poet/Mentors, Josh, Stephan, Donte and Rickeisha (pictured below).  These students were stellar role models & terrific mentors.  Keep an eye out for more photos, video, audio clips and poetry featuring the Jackson students.

Here’s one poem written
by a Jackson 6th Grader:

What Matters to me
is my family and friends.
What matters to me
is nature and life.
What matters to me
is my brother and sister.
What matters to me
is by baby sitter.
What matters to me
is my family who is in Mexico.
What matters to me
is The Lab.
What matters to me is
me, myelf and I.

In March and April, five middle school students from the Battle Creek PAS program participated in an exciting and unique Art Residency at The Lab.  The group was facilitated by Tess Pease, social worker, and Geriann, a Social Work graduate student intern at The LAB.   The students were exposed to several art materials and projects, mostly grounded in the art form of printmaking.  For example, one of the projects allowed the students to create their own t-shirt designs.

This Battle Creek Lab Visual Art residency culminated in a field trip to a place called Highpoint Center for Printmaking in Minneapolis.

While students were there, they learned how to mix colors of ink to print collagraphs that they had prepared at The Lab the previous week.  (Collagraphs are a collage of shapes cut out of thick cardboard, glued onto a main board, and rolled with ink to make an image on paper after going through the press). The raised image on the board prints onto the paper after being inked.  The students also learned how to run their own Collagraphs through the printing press, which was a definite highlight for them to actually bring the print to life.

The work of two of the Battle Creek students is currently being shown in the gallery at Highpoint as part of a student show running now until the end of May.  We are very proud of these students, and look forward to a continued partnership with Highpoint next year.

I Come Here To:

I come here to write
I come here to express how I feel
I come here to have fun
I come here to be heard
I come here to be free
I come here to learn more about myself
I come here to be myself
I come here to learn and get better at writing
I come here to learn more about my friends   

When I come here, I feel safe
When I come here, I feel free to just be me
When I come here, I see who I am and who I can be
When I write, I can be myself 

To me, writing is a way of life
To me, writing can be whatever I want it to be
I speak through my writing
To me, writing is a way to show who I am
I am who I am and only I can change it. 

~ A

Students shuffle into the Writer’s Lab and file into one of eight, cushioned, office chairs placed around a rectangular conference table. Some greet the co-facilitators in the room and enquire about the group’s activities for the day while others quietly slouch into chairs and wait for the group to begin. One student trickles in after all the rest, plops down in the last available seat and immediately puts his head down on the table.

The group begins.

“Everyone in the circle is equal… No one’s voice is more important than anyone else’s… Everyone in the circle is a teacher… Everyone in the circle is a student… Everyone has his or her turn to speak… When one is speaking, all others listen… The circle is sacred and special.”

Most of the students reference a brightly colored poster hanging in the Writer’s Lab to recite the creed, but some know it by heart.

The guidelines in the group are used to support and encourage students to establish social connections and build community. With these group norms, the Poetry Lab becomes a safe place for students to get over their fears about reading and writing and gain confidence in their literacy. Read more

We want to send a BIG Thank you & shout out to Ahnung, and to our wonderful volunteer, Marilou, for their fundraising efforts.  With their fun effort to get more Facebook Fans for Ahnung, they successfully raised $55.00 for The Lab’s spring poetry & art anthology.  Thanks, too, to all of you who became Ahnung’s Facebook Fan.  You made a difference!  The Lab’s spring poetry & art anthology is off to the printer and has been fully funded with your generosity!

Read more about their successful Facebook campaign here – 

http://ahnung-northstar.blogspot.com/2010/03/help-homeless-animals-and-at-risk-youth.html

This post was written by Ahnung, a therapy dog that provides Animal Assisted Education at The Lab.  Read more here – but bottom line is this:  This dog wants more Facebook Fans, and if she reaches 600 Fans, her “Human” (Lab volunteer, Marilou), will donate $150 to The Lab. Help us out!  It won’t cost you a dime! Read more

A couple weeks ago I had what may very well be the most rewarding experience I’ve had in my long stint with The Lab, and that’s saying a lot, as I’ve had some of the most rewarding experiences of my life already working for The Lab.  I was called in to work with one high school student in particular, as he is in love with writing and The Writing Lab was in jeopardy of being canceled that day.  So, he and I worked one-on-one.

I learned that this student has been through some experiences in his short life already that are harder than anything I’ve ever had to face.  He told me that the way he deals with the issues that arise from such experiences, as well as just day to day trials, is through writing.   Read more

The Lab –  that is exactly what it is –  like some type of metaphysical Laboratory.

When stepping into this place I feel as though it is an opportunity to disect the brains of the youth that come through this program in order to figure out what is “wrong”.  But actually, what is wrong with our communities, societies, and the world in general, because the children know what’s up, but sometimes adults want to talk more than listen. My internship here at The Lab so far has been an opportunity for educational growth, as wells as a time of listening to children, who are a reflection of who I was as a young boy. It’s not so much about “fixing” them, but “examining”, while allowing them to “Examine” me.

It’s like “Hey Man, you can be where I am now, you and I are the same person. There is no reason you cannot better yourself.  Are you the labels that have been given to you?  Where do you want to be in 10 years?”.

For lack of better words The Lab has opened my eyes to a lot, Especially when I grab my scalpel and begin doing surgery on words and language in the Writing Lab!  Peace!

* A Note from Mary T:
Indeed, Kama — The Lab is a place where we highlight the STRENGTHS of youth.  We are not a place or program that sees youth in their deficits or pathology.  At The Lab, we are working to address inequities in this world, particularly in those ways that affect our youth.  We are striving to support our youth to make positive and healthy choices, even in the face of injustice.

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