In an age where our words are often shortened to fit character limits, and our deepest thoughts are increasingly being reduced to fleeting captions, there’s something revolutionary about speaking- not to inform, not to debate, but to connect. Words, when woven with intent, hold the power to transform silence into revelation, strangers into kindred spirits, and a room into a sanctuary. It is this transformative magic that has found a home at Barbers Hill High School in the form of its newly-founded Spoken Word Poetry Club.
The club is a passion project initiated by junior Breann Vallier and sponsor Sarah Guarnere, who has invited students to dive into the raw, unfiltered realm of spoken word poetry. Here, language isn’t just a tool- it’s a bridge: A bridge to understanding, empathy, and even healing. Each meeting becomes a testament to the idea that poetry isn’t confined to books or academics. It is alive, it breathes in the vulnerability of the speaker and it resonates in the ears of the listener.
“Spoken word poetry is about more than sharing your story,” Guarnere explains. ‘It’s about inviting others into it.”
The club meets weekly every Thursday in Mrs. Guarnere’s classroom. Her room, B193, is transformed into a cozy atmosphere with delicious breakfast that provides a sanctuary from the crazy everyday high school life. For members, it’s not just a club- it’s a refuge. Students gather with poems in hand, their words brimming with unwritten stories, and the room becomes a space where every voice is valid, and every silence carries meaning and laughter.
For Breann Vallier, spoken word poetry is a form of liberation—a form of liberation that originated with a simple school assignment.
“The idea for the club actually started when I got an extra credit assignment for Mrs. Guarnere’s class,” Breann said. “I chose to do a poem. It was after we read The Things They Carried. I remember presenting it in front of the class and the impact it had on my classmates… their reactions … were all so shocked,” she continued. “I just loved the impact the poem had, with all my emotions in it. It was just beautiful. It was amazing. I intertwined the novel with the things I was carrying at the time… it let me release a massive weight that was on me at the time….I just thought, I wish I could have other people feel like this because I know other people are feeling the same way, but they don’t really have an outlet for it. You see, there is something about poetry that speaks.”
The thing is, life is so unpredictable. Things happen suddenly, unexpectedly. It is human nature to want to feel we are in control of our own existence. In some ways we are, in some ways we are not. But different mediums, such as poetry, help us gain that perspective and sense of control we often need in order to endure life’s chaos. Poetry and simply the freedom of expression can be just as essential as the air we breathe.
One student described their experience as “a mirror held up to the soul.” Another added that it’s a place where words are no longer measured by their perfection but by their truth. And in that truth, something extraordinary happens: walls come down.
Mrs. Guarnere emphasizes the importance of the club as a safe space. “In a world that so often tells young people what to think and how to feel, this is a space where they are asked to tell us what they think, how they feel. That’s rare, and it’s necessary.”
The ripple effect of the club’s early success is undeniable. Members leave not only with polished poems but with a sense of belonging and confidence they carry into the world.
Breann explained the importance of poetry today: “As humans, we one-hundred percent do share our words, we do share our thoughts, but we share in a way that is so superficial, and we often don’t show who we really are and what we are going through…it is the same way with different forms of art, like music. That’s the thing we do with poetry… one can be writing and writing and become unaware that you are going into a deep place, and out of nowhere, you start pouring your heart into a paper. It’s beautiful.”
Perhaps, then, the true power of this club lies not just in the words spoken but in the connections forged. Each line, each pause, each heartfelt admission- they remind us that no matter how different our stories may be, they are threads in the same tapestry.
The Spoken Word Poetry Club isn’t just about poetry. It’s about what happens when we stop speaking to be heard and start speaking to be understood. In the words of Guarnere, “It’s about the courage to say, ‘This is me,’ and the grace to reply, ‘And this is me, too.’”
