ChewSLAM is back! We are excited about the new season of this amazing, transformative program that has been piloted for the last two years and has been lead by local poetry luminaries such as Yesha Townsend,  Chris Astwood, Tiffany Paynter and Stephan Johnstone. ChewSLAM is a weekly program where participants are given the opportunity to deepen in their writing, performance and even recording skills. It is designed to help develop public speaking, community consciousness, collaboration and literacy and most of all encourages young people to speak up about the things that matter to them most and to know that they are not alone. Chewstick strives to provide healthier ways for young people to express feelings of fear, love, loss and triumph, while building lasting friendships and surprising themselves with the beauty and power within.

This term participants will be gearing up for a series of workshops, exercises and performance opportunities leading up to an amazing international poetry experience. In addition to the program’s focus on building self-esteem and artistic expression, the youth will showcase their talents in special shows and community outreach in preparation for the 2013 Brave New Voices International Youth Poetry & Spoken Word Festival, an annual conference that takes place in the US which sees young poets from all over the world come together to share and deepen in the shared love of spokenword, camaraderie and competition.

Additionally, for the first time ChewSLAM will be able to count toward The Department of Education minimum graduation requirement of 20hrs Co-Curricular Hours. This is a new requirement that we are excited to be able to assist The Department with and will no doubt be a fun and exciting option to fulfill this requirement. Young people not only get the benefit of being involved in the Program but also it will count toward their formal educational experience and requirements – that is a win-win.

A sample of last years participants:
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A sample of this years participants (so far ; )…

Still I Rise – ChewSLAM Oct. 15 2011 by Chewstick

The Revolution is NOW – ChewSLAM Oct. 29, 2011 by Chewstick

The Chewstick Foundation will be continuing the ChewSLAM program with a team of facilitators every Saturday from 2pm to 4pm at The Chewstick Foundation facility on the corner of Court Street and Reid Street and it is open to young people between the ages of 14 and 18. It does not require prior sign-up, but if you have questions or require more information feel free to contact us at info@chewstick.org or call 292-2439.

A look at Brave New Voices:

To find out more about Brave New Voices visit their website www.bravenewvoices.org