Prose in the "Park"

Okay — so maybe the title is a little misleading. It wasn’t exactly a “park” — more like the side yard at the school, but it does feature trees and sun and a variety of places to sit or lay! The big picture is that the 10th and 11th grade classes for Ryan Squared (Mr. Ryan Nych and Mr. Randy Ryan) took a little time to head outside for a little fresh air and to “get their learn on”!

Students were inspired by the likes of Robert Frost for a focus on imagery and ability to make art from commonplace and mundane topics — to avoid the trap of taking the small things for granted.

They read Walt Whitman’s “I Sing the Body Electric,”, “O’me! "O’life!”, and “Poets to Come” discussing the legacies we leave behind based on our actions today.

Lessons on building fortitude were featured in Marcus Aurelius, and students learned about how challenges help us grow. They even breached their way into scientific non-fiction and its poetic quality and heightened meaning.

They talked about the power of thought, language, and communication, and how each are linked in Poe’s “Dream within a Dream”, and Shakespeare’s “All that Glitters is Not Gold".

What a great way to spend the hour, and, with a little luck, maybe — just maybe — a poetry lover was born!