On May 7^th at 6:30 pm the first ever “Poetry in the Pit” took place.

Hosted by teachers Mr. Ryan, Mr. Ramos, and Ms. Marsland, the event allowed students to share their poetry in a nonjudgmental and welcoming environment. Mr. Ryan started out the evening with a moving speech about poetry, philosophy, and the Pit. Mr. Ramos then covered quickly addressed the ground rules and the event officially began. Students read or recited their own original poems and the crowd replied with snaps or the occasional clap. The atmosphere was warm and inviting. Among those who stood up and read their poems were Dave D’Amico, Sara Bouthilette, Sam Scetta, Sarai Perez, Atiba Wyllie, Erica D’ Errico, Rose O’ Gara, Barry Blais, Nikki MacHado, Harley Ball, Tiffany Larose, Rebecca Smart, Lauren Medeiros, Justin Bruder, Samuel Bent Ellis and many more, as well as Ms. Marsland, Mr. Ramos, and Mr. Ryan also reading their own original poems. Mr. Ryan rapped his piece.

Originally, the night was going to be split into two parts: open microphone in the first half, and planned performances in the second but was changed to one free-flowing night where students could sign up to perform as they showed up. After seeing how it went, Mr. Ryan and Ms. Marsland both found it to have been a better way of running the night and also easier for the students to choose and anticipate when they would go up and read.

When asked about the night, Ms. Marsland was proud to state: “I think tonight was amazing and I am impressed that there were over 60 students in the Pit on a Thursday night reading poetry.” Mr. Ramos also commented, “I think tonight was a huge success. We are super pumped that so many people came out to support us and we are excited that this should turn into an annual tradition.”

Finally, Mr. Ryan had this to say on the success of the evening, “I feel like the night went really well because a lot of people came out that weren’t in my classes. The pit was full of people listening to poetry which I think is unprecedented. I think that a lot of people tonight found their voice and had an opportunity to practice poetry in a public place with strangers and it gave people a chance to exercise an authentic voice and people got to tell their story. The classroom can confine us because we are forced to be in that room with people but when you open up a poetry night it’s usually people that like poetry that show up so it creates a freer environment where people are at liberty to be themselves and I’m really happy about that.”