POETIC
TOOLKIT

THE WICK POETRY CENTER AT
KENT STATE UNIVERSITY

X
THE CUYAHOGA VALLEY
NATIONAL PARK

This Poetic Toolkit invites teachers, writers, and community members to consider the stories of the first people in the valley, imagine the shaping of this place in geologic time, and reflect on the human history of the Ohio & Erie Canal. These lessons and interactive activities are built on Wick’s innovative tools: Thread and Emerge. Thread allows participants to add their voice to growing community poems on these themes. Emerge creates opportunities to respond creatively to primary texts. In all, these activities blend the socio-emotional experience of self-expression and sharing with the content of science and history. We’re excited about the endless possibilities of this interdisciplinary approach.

We are also grateful for this partnership. As poet, and Ohio native, Mary Oliver writes in Wild Geese, “the world offers itself to your imagination, / calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting.” For this exact reason, the Wick Poetry Center benefits greatly from having Cuyahoga Valley National Park as a neighbor. It has been home to our summer writing camp, field trips, and writing workshops. These experiences have reminded us how creative expression helps us converse with the world, with the different histories and communities living here. The park connects us to these stories, it calls to us.

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Traveling Stanzas community arts projects bring poetry to people’s everyday lives through innovative methods and digital platforms.