April has been celebrated as National Poetry Month in the United States since 1996.
And to acknowledge the month, Belita Thornton, library supervisor at the Free Library of Philadelphia’s Logan branch at 1333 Wagner Ave., assembled a new program, book spine poetry.
Thornton said she was searching the Internet for new activities for the teenagers when she came across it.
“I saw that it was a program that didn’t require a lot of extra energy, all you needed were books and we are a library and have plenty of them,” Thornton said.
Thornton unintentionally scheduled the program during the week that students were on spring break so the participation level was not what she expected.
“There were three children who participated and they were beginning to lose focus so I offered snacks and computer passes and they began to put together some great poems, I was very impressed,” Thornton said
Rashaun Gross, 16, was one of the three participants, “It was hard at first but then it got easier, I liked it because it gave us something to do.”
“I wanted the children to get a different perspective on learning and get the mind to work in a different way,” Thornton said.
This was Thornton’s first time using the program and the lack of participants isn’t stopping her from trying it again.
“Although today’s turnout was not the best due to the holiday, I plan on trying it again in the summer.”
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