DC SCORES students perform at Kicking & Screening film festival

Three brave DC SCORES students took to the stage Friday night at Busboys & Poets in the U Street area.

And they wowed a packed room full of established poets, writers and soccer players.

Destiny, Aisha and James of Raymond Elementary School performed an original work as part of a poetry session leading up to one of the Kicking & Screening film festival's showings. Destiny and Aisha, fifth-graders, and James, in sixth grade, had performed the poem at last year's Poetry Slam! and weren't afraid to do it again in front of a crowded room of adults.

Also performing at the reading were Briana Scurry, the former goalie of the U.S. Women's national team that won the World Cup in 1999; Grant Wahl, an established writer for Sports Illustrated who read from his new book The Beckham Experiment -- which chronicles soccer superstar David Beckham's time spent with Major League Soccer's L.A. Galaxy; very well-established local poets (and husband and wife) Hayes Davis and Teri Ellen Cross; and D.C. United goalkeeper Josh Wicks.

But no reader got as loud of an ovation as did the three youngest poets in the room, who swayed back and forth, constantly moving in unison, as they jived in front of admiring onlookers.

A big thanks to Kicking & Screening for making DC SCORES a part of its four-day celebration of soccer through films and, to be remembered, great poetry performances.