He's like any other 12-year-old cyclone of energy. To not be in motion is to defy nature. Plus, there are friends to push and dodge and there are temptations such as grinders and bags of chips and boxes of fruit juices scattered on low-slung tables around the room. But at precisely choreographed moments, Noah Jenkins snaps to attention and begins to read an amazing and partially memorized poem about hope and ambition and desire — a tome filled with grand comic book feats as well as deeply eloquent lifetime metaphors about racing from the peak of Mount Everest to the bottom.
Jenkins wrote this poem, and his peers in the room, all members of a local group called Writers Block Ink, have written similarly themed works. They will all be part of a much larger annual production and fundraiser they call their Spring Showcase, happening Saturday.
In preparation, on an after-school Wednesday afternoon, members and volunteers of the Writers Block have gathered in their tripartite rehearsal area in the back of a building on State Street. The main space is small and elongated with a polished hardwood floor and large sheets of butcher paper containing handwritten versions of poems by Langston Hughes and Maya Angelou; a tiny office cubicle with a computer desk and two chairs; and a larger, brightly lit square room with full-length mirrors covering the walls.
Each chamber is rife with an artistic whirlwind. In the main room, immediate focus is on Jenkins, 11-year-old Kirshon Augmon, and 12-year-old Jalen Sampeur. Under the guidance of sisters Maya and Attallah Sheppard, Waterford High students and members of Writers Block since its inception five years ago, the guys are coordinating delivery and stage projection of interrelated and memorized works of poetry — their own pieces plus Hughes' “A Dream Deferred” and Angelou's “And Still I Rise.”
As spun out from those seminal works, the Spring Showcase will express a message of conviction and rising above challenge — that it's OK to dream and you can't let anything hold you back in the pursuit of those dreams.
Maya Sheppard, 15, orchestrates the young men through rehearsal with a delicate balance of maternal strength and a drama teacher's grasp of craft.
“Well, we're kind of mentors because we've been here for a while,” she explains. “I look at the (younger kids) and think how I was at the beginning. Kind of shy. And it's important to learn to be comfortable with your words and feelings. I learned from the people who came before me and this is part of the experience. You pass it on.”
Meanwhile, through a door into the mirrored space, urban beats blast out of a stereo as young women practice choreography under the guidance of Callan Bryant, a volunteer and member of Oasis, the New London hip-hop dance outfit. Camped out in the office, Mystic poet and volunteer Melanie Greenhouse gently councils middle school writers in one-on-one sessions.
This is all the brainstorm of Pfizer employee and WB founder Clarissa Beyah-Taylor. The group is a nonprofit creative community where students from ages 8 to 21 learn to explore feelings about social and familial issues and challenges through such artistic expressions as poetry, dance and music.
“These kids come from so many different backgrounds that Writers Block creates an environment where they can deal with whatever social issues are going on in their heads,” says Hazel Richardson, the director of student care for the organization. “The idea is for them to talk about whatever they want to talk about and use those issues as a springboard to create. They take a paper and pen and start writing, and the students see that whatever emotional topic comes off the blank page has become a work of art.”
•••••
The group meets year-round, working on a variety of projects that culminate in small group presentations — as in two recent opening-act spoken-word performances before professional concerts at New London's Garde Arts Center — full-group productions like the Fall Fundraiser and Spring Showcase, and a variety of projects over the course of a seven-week summer workshop. Students from schools in Waterford, New London, Groton, Montville and North Stonington are members, and the number of participants ranges from its current school year roster of 18 to as many as 35 during the summer sessions.
The students write and conceptualize their productions, with the guidance of adult volunteers like Richardson, Greenhouse, Bryant and Betsy Raymond Stevenson, a member of the board of directors who coordinates public relations for the group. And despite the age differences, and that many come from different schools, it all seems to come together smoothly.
“It absolutely coalesces,” Richardson says. “Writers Block is in one way a family to these kids. Plus, they don't necessarily see each other during the week and so it's a completely different and fun environment for them to get together.”
For the Spring Showcase, the general concept arises from brainstorming sessions among the students. The volunteers help with shape and structure. “The kids came up with a list of thoughts and overall themes that suggested the poems by Hughes and Angelou,” Richardson says. “So we put the poems on the wall and let them work from there. It helps them feel invested to see the concepts they've talked about turn into an actual artistic work.”
Steve Sigel, executive director of the Garde Arts Center, has been sufficiently impressed that he had Writers Block open two recent big-name concerts at the venue, the Mavis Staples/Bettye LaVette show and the subdudes/BeauSoleil bill.
“The Writer's Block is a wonderful program nurturing the expressive skills through pen and performance of our community's children,” Sigel says. “We love to have the opportunity to deepen the impact of our performances by actively engaging members of the community in the artist-audience experience.” He adds, “The musicians were so impressed with the content of the kids' writing and the way they expressed themselves on stage.”
After Maya and Attallah are satisfied that Augmon, Jenkins and Sampeur have made progress, the three young men take a break. They all profess affection for Writers Block.
“It's good and cool,” says Jenkins, a student at St. Bernard. “I think it will help me down the road.”
“We learn about stage direction and how to memorize poems,” adds Augmon, who attends Bennie Dover in New London.
“I've wanted to be in plays and this is fun,” chimes in Sampeur, who goes to New London's Interdistrict School for Arts and Communication.
“The kids are so amazing and they have so much talent,” Richardson laughs. “Sometimes they're just 9-year-old kids and other times they say or write something and you say, 'That came out of a 9-year-old?' ”
Maya Sheppard, who hopes to establish a career in the performing arts, agrees. “At this point of the production, there's still a lot of work to be done but I think it's coming along. We have some really strong pieces and it amazes me how in-depth these kids are. We have a lot of good stuff to work with.”
“Ultimately, the Writers Block's purpose is to inspire young people to pursue education,” says Beyah-Taylor, who stays involved in the group even though a job transfer moved her to New Jersey. “We want to inspire every young person we can to desire an education both for its own sake and as a means to ignite change.”
Jenkins wrote this poem, and his peers in the room, all members of a local group called Writers Block Ink, have written similarly themed works. They will all be part of a much larger annual production and fundraiser they call their Spring Showcase, happening Saturday.
In preparation, on an after-school Wednesday afternoon, members and volunteers of the Writers Block have gathered in their tripartite rehearsal area in the back of a building on State Street. The main space is small and elongated with a polished hardwood floor and large sheets of butcher paper containing handwritten versions of poems by Langston Hughes and Maya Angelou; a tiny office cubicle with a computer desk and two chairs; and a larger, brightly lit square room with full-length mirrors covering the walls.
Each chamber is rife with an artistic whirlwind. In the main room, immediate focus is on Jenkins, 11-year-old Kirshon Augmon, and 12-year-old Jalen Sampeur. Under the guidance of sisters Maya and Attallah Sheppard, Waterford High students and members of Writers Block since its inception five years ago, the guys are coordinating delivery and stage projection of interrelated and memorized works of poetry — their own pieces plus Hughes' “A Dream Deferred” and Angelou's “And Still I Rise.”
As spun out from those seminal works, the Spring Showcase will express a message of conviction and rising above challenge — that it's OK to dream and you can't let anything hold you back in the pursuit of those dreams.
Maya Sheppard, 15, orchestrates the young men through rehearsal with a delicate balance of maternal strength and a drama teacher's grasp of craft.
“Well, we're kind of mentors because we've been here for a while,” she explains. “I look at the (younger kids) and think how I was at the beginning. Kind of shy. And it's important to learn to be comfortable with your words and feelings. I learned from the people who came before me and this is part of the experience. You pass it on.”
Meanwhile, through a door into the mirrored space, urban beats blast out of a stereo as young women practice choreography under the guidance of Callan Bryant, a volunteer and member of Oasis, the New London hip-hop dance outfit. Camped out in the office, Mystic poet and volunteer Melanie Greenhouse gently councils middle school writers in one-on-one sessions.
This is all the brainstorm of Pfizer employee and WB founder Clarissa Beyah-Taylor. The group is a nonprofit creative community where students from ages 8 to 21 learn to explore feelings about social and familial issues and challenges through such artistic expressions as poetry, dance and music.
“These kids come from so many different backgrounds that Writers Block creates an environment where they can deal with whatever social issues are going on in their heads,” says Hazel Richardson, the director of student care for the organization. “The idea is for them to talk about whatever they want to talk about and use those issues as a springboard to create. They take a paper and pen and start writing, and the students see that whatever emotional topic comes off the blank page has become a work of art.”
•••••
The group meets year-round, working on a variety of projects that culminate in small group presentations — as in two recent opening-act spoken-word performances before professional concerts at New London's Garde Arts Center — full-group productions like the Fall Fundraiser and Spring Showcase, and a variety of projects over the course of a seven-week summer workshop. Students from schools in Waterford, New London, Groton, Montville and North Stonington are members, and the number of participants ranges from its current school year roster of 18 to as many as 35 during the summer sessions.
The students write and conceptualize their productions, with the guidance of adult volunteers like Richardson, Greenhouse, Bryant and Betsy Raymond Stevenson, a member of the board of directors who coordinates public relations for the group. And despite the age differences, and that many come from different schools, it all seems to come together smoothly.
“It absolutely coalesces,” Richardson says. “Writers Block is in one way a family to these kids. Plus, they don't necessarily see each other during the week and so it's a completely different and fun environment for them to get together.”
For the Spring Showcase, the general concept arises from brainstorming sessions among the students. The volunteers help with shape and structure. “The kids came up with a list of thoughts and overall themes that suggested the poems by Hughes and Angelou,” Richardson says. “So we put the poems on the wall and let them work from there. It helps them feel invested to see the concepts they've talked about turn into an actual artistic work.”
Steve Sigel, executive director of the Garde Arts Center, has been sufficiently impressed that he had Writers Block open two recent big-name concerts at the venue, the Mavis Staples/Bettye LaVette show and the subdudes/BeauSoleil bill.
“The Writer's Block is a wonderful program nurturing the expressive skills through pen and performance of our community's children,” Sigel says. “We love to have the opportunity to deepen the impact of our performances by actively engaging members of the community in the artist-audience experience.” He adds, “The musicians were so impressed with the content of the kids' writing and the way they expressed themselves on stage.”
After Maya and Attallah are satisfied that Augmon, Jenkins and Sampeur have made progress, the three young men take a break. They all profess affection for Writers Block.
“It's good and cool,” says Jenkins, a student at St. Bernard. “I think it will help me down the road.”
“We learn about stage direction and how to memorize poems,” adds Augmon, who attends Bennie Dover in New London.
“I've wanted to be in plays and this is fun,” chimes in Sampeur, who goes to New London's Interdistrict School for Arts and Communication.
“The kids are so amazing and they have so much talent,” Richardson laughs. “Sometimes they're just 9-year-old kids and other times they say or write something and you say, 'That came out of a 9-year-old?' ”
Maya Sheppard, who hopes to establish a career in the performing arts, agrees. “At this point of the production, there's still a lot of work to be done but I think it's coming along. We have some really strong pieces and it amazes me how in-depth these kids are. We have a lot of good stuff to work with.”
“Ultimately, the Writers Block's purpose is to inspire young people to pursue education,” says Beyah-Taylor, who stays involved in the group even though a job transfer moved her to New Jersey. “We want to inspire every young person we can to desire an education both for its own sake and as a means to ignite change.”
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