Framingham HS Seniors Battle At Annual Poetry Slam

FRAMINGHAM, MA—Throw it down, Framingham poets!

On Wednesday, April 25, at 7:30 p.m., Framingham High School holds the final round of its 15th annual senior class poetry slam. A “slam,” for those not in the know, is a competition between teams of poets who perform their own original work, bringing poetry off the page and onto the stage in a "gloves-off, no-holds-barred verbal boxing match with judges chosen randomly from the audience."

This FHS slam began as a class project in 2004, and has since turned into a school-wide, and community-wide event, said the announcement.

“When I began teaching poetry slam to my students in senior English classes 15 years ago, I never imagined that it would grow to become an FHS tradition. Now, the senior poetry slam feels like a rite of passage to the students and teachers of FHS,” said Framingham High School Librarian Alison Courchesne in a statement. “The underclassmen watch the graduating seniors up on stage, and they often say, 'I would never have the guts to do that,' but by the time they are the seniors, the students really rise to the occasion and seize that opportunity to speak their truth. I'm proud that our community really values our students' voices.”

Preliminary and semi-final rounds, consisting of 317 members of the class of 2018, were held at FHS from April 9-12 to determine which teams would move on to the finals. The top three teams at the final round on April 25 will take home cash prizes and, more importantly, bragging rights. The 15th Annual Poetry Slam is open to the public and will be held at Amazing Things Arts Center, 160 Hollis St, Framingham, MA 01702.

Class of 2018 Poetry Slam Finalists

Hannah³ and Aaron

Hannah Levine

Hannah Gelman

Hannah Wade

Aaron Shapiro

Be Tenacious

Agnes Kyei

Baby Lenga Kalemba

Khayel Francois

We’ll Figure That Out Later

Mateus Chaves

Thierry Silva

Will Ramos

C³

Cleopatra Mavhunga

Cassidy Slamin

Catherine Giorgetti

Tax Free Tampons

Alex Magee

Jerry MacDonald

Kyle Stamm

Symphony Shea

Birds of the Crow's nest

Chad Douty

Nicholas Salerno

Matthew Martino

Brendan Wilcox

A Stack of Slam Cakes

Aira Erguiza

Megan Romine

Nancy Chammas

Leah Estes

Also, at the finals on April 25, there is a special guest performance by FHS's "varsity" poetry slam team, "Framingslam," who competed last weekend at the Louder Than a Bomb Massachusetts High School Poetry Slam competition in Boston.

Framingslam

Aira Erguiza

Hannah Levine

Lauren Walker

Rose Bailey

Admission is $5 per person, or free with a Framingham High School ID.

Photo via Shutterstock