Building Literacy Skills with Powerful Poets Programming

Do you like poetry recitations? What about poems that celebrate Houston pride including the Astros and BBQ? During the first week of September, the Museum hosted Powerful Poets events that celebrated our city and featured hometown heroes such as Houston Poet Laureate Aris Kian Brown, Houston Youth Poet Laureate Ariana Lee, Former Houston Poet Laureate Emanuelee "Outspoken" Bean, and national competition winner Kylan Denney. These spoken-word artists gave performances, led workshops, and invited children to step up to the mic on Saturday and Thursday Free Family Night.

It wasn't just Houstonians who were inspired by Powerful Poets. Jean Greenberg from Dallas received one-on-one help from Ariana Lee as she wrote her poem "Fruit Tarts," which she performed on the Museum's stage.  Another child, visiting from Las Vegas, enjoyed the performances so much that his mother was inspired to start a poetry club at their online school. Before even leaving the Museum, the mother called school staff to share her idea, and they planned to start the club the following week.

Powerful Poets is part of CMH’s Read Strong All Year Long programming underwritten by Phillips 66. Need more poetry in your life? Click here to watch a video of Ariana's “Stars of Space City” poem, and learn more about the award-winning Meta4 Houston poetry team.

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