The lights were low, the coffee was hot, the rhymes were flying.
All that was missing was a set of bongo drums with a couple of beatniks dressed in black and sporting goatees.
Students in Rachel Hart and Angie Feeney’s fifth-grade class at Oxford Elementary School hosted their own ‘Poetry Jam? March 1.
The classroom was transformed into a hip coffeehouse as students took turns at the microphone reciting poetry they wrote, including haikus and diamantes.
Instead of clapping, audience members were encouraged to snap their fingers after each reading ? just like those Hep Cats did in 1950s coffeehouses.
Candles and crayons adorned the decorated tables as students and their parents sat together sipping coffee, tea and hot chocolate ? provided by Starbucks ? while they listened to the poems.
At the end of the evening, the class presented Feeney, a student teacher and 1997 Oxford High School graduate, with a special ‘Poetry Jam 2007? poster containing individual photos of the class.
They also read Feeney, who’s a Leonard resident, a heartfelt poem commemorating her time as a student teacher, which ends March 9.