Over 700 students attended this year’s Slam throughout the day March 14, making it a great success. Many staff also joined in throughout the day, some even braving the stage once the student competitions were decided. Tre Josey and Kima Hamilton, two dynamic spoken word poets from Anchorage, lent their time and talent to make the day memorable. They performed several of their own pieces, too, and encouraged a few of the timid to get up on stage and share their work.

This year’s freshman winners were:

Period	Winner/Poem	Teacher
1	Jessie LaRosa, “Sick”	Ms. Knapp
2	JR Hayward, “On Swimming”	Ms. Weber
3	Brooke Moore, “Do You?”	Ms. Jokela
4	Kyle Dodson, “Untitled”	Ms. Weber
5	Sterling Pfleiger & Oliver Martin, “Us”	Ms. Knapp
6	Brennen Lamb,  “My Dedication”	Ms. Morris

A huge thanks to our generous PTSA for their support of gift cards for our winning poets, and to Mrs Guyett for supplying funds for prize books for each of our contestants. Finally, great thanks to our students who prove that poetry is a living, engaging way to connect and communicate. Long live poetry! 

Page text by Dimond teacher Martha Jokela