Poetry Slam! performance of the week: Moten Elementary School

Each Wednesday during the year, we will highlight one of the 41 performances from the 16th Annual DC SCORES Poetry Slam! that took place Dec. 4-5, 2013. The event is the largest youth poetry slam in the District and highlights the original poems of our 1,500 youth. To view any performance from the Poetry Slam!, visit our YouTube channel. You can also read recaps of the event on our blog: Westside; Eastside. 

Today we highlight Moten Elementary School, which immediately brought style to the H.D. Woodson High School stage on the second night of the Poetry Slam!. Wearing sunglasses as they walked onto the stage, the Moten team members removed their shades and performed three poems about their pride in being from Washington, DC, and about love.

Then, with all movements coming in unison, the Panthers once again donned their shades as they walked off stage after an uplifting performance.

Click on the embedded video above to watch Moten's performance!

Jamboree! 2012: A day spent with the Moten Panthers

When the bus pulled curbside and the expansive fields came into view, the Moten Panthers’ eyes got real big.

So this was what a college campus looked like!

From the moment I met the 10 students outside of their elementary school, their excitement about the day’s forthcoming events was evident. When I told them the DC SCORES Jamboree! was taking place at a college, it reached another level.

Then we arrived at Trinity Washington University on Michigan Avenue, where hundreds of kids were spilling out of buses and walking toward a large grassy area which would host dozens of soccer games and other activities.

The Panthers and over 800 other DC SCORES students took part in the 17th annual Jamboree! Saturday, the culminating event of the spring season. They were joined by hundreds of parents, community members, volunteers and a host of partners who helped make the action-packed day possible.

I had the task of filling in as Moten’s coach for the day, but, really, it was an easy job — how could they not have fun playing soccer, running relay races and getting free stuff all while jamming out to DJ RBI’s beats?

We began the day by watching the City Cup elementary school championship games, as the Bancroft boys defeated Howard Road Academy and the Burrville girls won their second straight Cup over Brightwood. It was a great opportunity to give pointers to the excited Panthers, who ‘oohed’ and ‘ahhed’ after a series of incredible goals by Bancroft.

On the upper fields, Paul Public Charter School won both the boys and girls middle school tournaments, with the MacFarland Middle School boys posting a very impressive second-place showing out of 14 teams.
 
Meanwhile, the Panthers were getting antsy — how could I blame them? — so we waltzed down the grassy hill to the activities area, where several partners of DC SCORES were stationed.

Our first stop was at The Century Council table, where the students picked up some sporty green or blue sunglasses and shoulder bags that would prove to be incredibly useful throughout the day. Third-grader Cayla sweet-talked her way into a pair of green AND blue sunglasses.

After stuffing books from the First Book table into their bags, the students stopped by the American Diabetes Association station and picked up pedometers that quickly had them running in stance — accumulating those steps. 100 … 200 … 500! How cool it was to move!

We then moved to the 826 DC table, where the students showed off their self-expression. Their task was to create a group story in a minute drawing pictures with crayons. As the seconds ticked off and the paper was passed along, the excitement level rose. But the group of girls beat the buzzer in illustrating a story about an ice cream cone party.

Just minutes later, the ice cream theme continued as the students impressed the Rotaract Metro DC volunteers during the “ice cream cone” relay — racing back and forth with a soccer ball balanced atop an orange cone, no hands allowed.

After three races, it was time to switch stations — but not stop racing. We joined an enthusiastic, fun-loving group from Volkswagen Group of America for a team hula hoop relay. The 10 Panthers made a circle, held hands and were tasked with wiggling a hoop around the circle without breaking their bond.

First try: 39 seconds.

Second try: 34 seconds.

They couldn’t quite get down to half a minute, but it was still the perfect activity to create a unity for the soccer games that loomed. After one more relay — this one the summer-camp favorite “sponge relay” that ended with the students chasing down the volunteer from The Kiwanis Club of Washington, DC, and dumping on him the bowl of water — we headed back up the hill.

(We didn’t quite have the time to stop by the Penya Barcelonista shooting station, where Penya volunteers and special guest Britt McHenry of ABC-7 were giving pointers as students practiced shooting soccer balls into a target net, or the Starbucks arts and crafts booth.)

It was game time.

As part of the Jamboree!, each elementary and middle school team plays a handful of games against schools from across the city. My assistant coach Avery and I didn’t know what to expect from the 

Panthers, having not coached them before, but by the end of the afternoon we knew they had made great strides during the season and day.

This was only the second year of DC SCORES programming for Moten, a school in Ward 8 where kids traditionally would never play soccer. But I could immediately tell that several members of our group had picked up the game quickly.

Against Garfield, Caleb established himself as an offensive threat, dribbling the ball down the field and finding the net. Jaquel, meanwhile, made a series of saves in net during the 3-0 victory.

Our game against Brightwood was a learning experience, as they are one of the biggest, most talented teams in DC SCORES’ elementary school league. After a few goals, the frustration was mounting, and I took Caleb aside after he yelled at a pair of teammates.

“I need you to be a leader,” I said to him. “Encourage your teammates. Show them the way.”

An hour later, after a delicious and healthy wraps lunch provided by DC Central Kitchen, we completed the action-packed day with a game against Arts and Technology Academy. Immediate signs of progress were evident.

Caleb shared the ball on several occasions, passing to Jaquel for a pair goals. Little Darryl, by far the smallest kid of the bunch, moved the ball up the field with no fear despite going against kids twice his size. Cedric, who had asked to play goalie during the Brightwood game, confidently protected the net. And while they weren’t used to playing with boys, the girls on the field — Cayla, Deasija, NaLiyah and Jamaree — attacked the ball with reckless abandon and improved at working together with the boys, and vice versa.

With each goal her team scored, Nyjha, who had bruised her knee against Brightwood and had a bag of ice on it, smiled a little bit more and forgot the pain, instead enjoying her team’s success.

Then, just like that, we were back on the bus, heading back to school. The day had flown by, a blurr of balls kicked, pictures drawn, the team dancing the cha-cha-cha, and many smiles.

Time had gone so fast, we never made it to the popular facepainting booth, but there wasn’t too much complaining. Or maybe everyone was just too tired for that.

Five minutes into the ride, I glanced next to me, and Darryl was passed out, slumped against the window (I would have to shake him when we arrived back at school). Minutes later, Cayla was in a similar position in the seat in front of me.

I asked Deasija what her favorite part of the day was.

“The sponge race,” she replied without hesitating.

A few others echoed her sentiment. Clearly, the Jamboree! had offered so much more than just soccer, which had been the only topic of discussion during the morning bus ride.

“I’m gonna sleep when I get home,” Cedric said as we neared the school. “Me too,” I agreed.

The Jamboree! had tired us all out, the way any action-packed event should. And the Panthers’ pedometers could prove just how active we had all been.

Highlighting our youth poets: Moten Elementary School

NOTE: Each week, we are featuring a school's performance from the 14th Annual Poetry Slam!. During the two-night culminating event of the fall season, each of the 27 schools DC SCORES serves had the opportunity to perform original poems and songs in front of their peers, families and community members.

On the second night of the Slam!, Moten Elementary School put on an inspiring performance about being proud of the area they represent — Southeast DC. It was the first Poetry Slam! showing for Moten, but the poets showed no signs of nervousness in front of the audience of 400-plus people.

To view any performance from the Poetry Slam!, visit the DC SCORES YouTube page.

When it rains, DC SCORES students exercise to Dance Dance Revolution

Written by Cory Chimka

Program Director

Charlotte Gerchick, now a 17-year-old senior at the Potomac School in Maclean, Virginia, was cleaning out her closet in October of 2009 when she came across her old Dance Dance Revolution video game system.

She waxed nostalgically about the many hours she and her friends spent jumping, twisting, turning on its mats, grooving to all the popular dance tunes built into the game. They’d spent many rainy days indoors, but still working up a sweat, and fostering healthy competition, during their “D.D.R. sessions.”

Now that they were sophomores in high school, Charlotte and her friends just didn’t have time for video games. When they weren’t in class, participating in extracurricular activities, or studying, they were starting to think about college.

Charlotte couldn’t bring herself to just throw away the once-treasured Dance Dance Revolution game, but it had to go. Then, she had a brilliant idea.

“I figured there must be lots of students at my school who had also outgrown their DDR games, which were just gathering dust somewhere. Because I had volunteered for DC SCORES, I knew about the kids and the schools, and that the kids in DC SCORES didn’t get exercise when it was raining or too cold. It just made sense to recycle the video games and provide an exercise opportunity at the same time.”

What if she could get these video game systems into DC SCORES classrooms, so those students could have fun exercising while developing some fancy footwork that might translate onto the soccer field?

Project Encore was born!

On an afternoon nearly two years later, Charlotte found herself in the Anacostia section of Southeast Washington, DC. Her first stop was Howard Road Academy Public Charter School. When Charlotte arrived, the HRA team was using the hallways and stairwells to have soccer practice, a clear reminder of Project Encore’s importance.

After some slight technical difficulties, the right TV was located and the students were choosing which tunes to groove to before jumping, hopping and spinning to the beat.

“It’s so hard because you have to wait for the arrows to come up,” said poet-athlete Lorenzo H., “but it’s great because it helps you to exercise and get to learn how to dance.”

Charlotte told the students not to get discouraged, with the object of the game to have fun and be active. She left the students taking turns trying to dance past level 1, then headed up the hill to Moten at Wilkinson Elementary. The Moten students were in the cafeteria anxiously awaiting Charlotte’s arrival, and their coach Mr. Henley had found an old projection television with a giant screen to use with the game.

The students at Moten were more familiar with the game. They’d seen it on television and some had even played at the arcade before. It didn’t take long for even some of the younger students to advance past level 1. Cedric M. was one of the first students to advance to level 2.

“The game keeps us kids focused,” Cedric said, “and it’s a lot of workout, but it takes you step by step, so it’s really fun!”

As I watched our DC SCORES students breathe new life into the old video games, the beauty and brilliance of the name “Project Encore” hit me hard.

“We liked the word ‘encore’ because it had a double meaning,” Charlotte explained. “It has the use in performances, when the audience shouts ‘Encore!’ applauding a good performance. It also means ‘again’ in French, which refers to the recycling aspect (of the project).

“The games were used by families like mine and then again by the students in the DC SCORES schools.”

There were some struggles along the way. “Collecting enough of each component was harder than I thought it would be,” Charlotte said. “There were plenty of mats. I guess the mats are easy to find — they are big and colorful. The DVDs hide somewhere. It was also hard to match up all the components because there are DDR games made for PlayStation 2 consoles and others for X-Boxes.”

But Charlotte never got discouraged and just kept on piecing together full game systems with the help of her parents, classmates, and the community service coordinators at her school, David Grant and Sharyn Stein. And for Charlotte, it’s worth all the effort when she delivers the games to DC SCORES schools.

“The best part has been giving the games to the kids and teaching them how to play,” she said. “It was great to see their reactions. I loved watching them get excited and seeing how happy they were when they found out they get to keep the games.”

“I can’t wait to give out more DDR games to more schools!”

If you’re a DC SCORES student, coach or parent who would like to see Charlotte bring Project Encore to your school, email me at cchimka@americascores.org, and if you are teenager who would like to know how you can be like Charlotte and get involved with and help DC SCORES, email volunteerdc@americascores.org