Slam Poetry Team Steps Up To The Stage As A ‘Slamily’
Sam Larsen
Staff Writer
Clubs and activities at Waverly High School are taken seriously and students put forth their time and effort to be involved.
A new club can take many years to become good and well- known for their success.
That is not the case for the slam poetry team here at WHS.
This is the second year the slam team, sponsored by Kelly Bielenberg, has been a part of the clubs and activities. The team puts their best performances and talent on to stage to represent this school well, the best way they can. The girls placed third out of 32 teams at finals. Those included teams from all, including class A schools like Lincoln High and Millard . This took place at The Louder Than A Bomb competition.
The NSAA doesn’t sponsor slam poetry teams. The Louder Than A Bomb organization, a non-profit organization devoted to promoting creative writing and performance poetry throughout the Midwest, puts together a competition young slam poets from schools all over.
The team has a coach, Stacy Waite, from UNL that comes and helps the girls put together poems and prepares them to perform at competitions.
“Her experience has really helped shape their poems and performances,” Bielenberg said.
The assistance from Waite gives the team the confidence and professional input to progress in competitions. Bringing them together is an excellent way to create closeness and camaraderie.
“Our team is incredibly supportive,” junior Riley Westerholt. “We call ourselves a ‘slamily’.”
Having the support from teammates and coaches is very important. To have the support from friends, faculty and student body is just as important and helpful. Representing the school makes everyone proud to know that there is such amazing talent at WHS.
“It’s exciting to represent my school doing something I love,” junior Amanda Marco said.
In high school, expressing feelings can be a difficult thing to do. Listening to students show their emotions on stage is a great way for them to express themselves in a positive way.
“You feel like you’re being heard on the slam stage.” Westerholt said. “That’s where I’m 100 percent myself and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
The feeling of being on stage provides confidence not only on stage.
“It’s exhilarating.” Marco said. “The three minute adrenaline rush is more than enough to keep me going.”
There are certain qualities that a slam poet must possess to present their emotion and life story.
Writing is another quality one must have to prepare a poem.
“I know poets who hate writing, but do it in order to get their story told,” Marco said
Telling a story about personal experiences is so often difficult to share to complete strangers in front of an audience. This slam team has the courage and experience to do this skillfully with pride for themselves.
