by Laura Garcia | Oct 9, 2019 | Art Start, Brooks, D97 Schools, Featured, Julian, News, OPEF Organization, OPEF Programs, Spoken Word
Brooks Middle School 7th graders are being encouraged to write poems about what’s important to them in their daily lives. Spoken Word teaching artist Mo Santiago, one of our latest Oak Park Education Foundation additions to the team, led last week’s class with... 
by Laura Garcia | May 17, 2019 | Brooks, D97 Schools, Julian, News, Poetry Slam, Spoken Word
OPEF Spoken Word students shook the house at the School of Rock with their raw honesty and powerful words last week. The poetry slam, titled Respect the Mic, fostered creativity and self-expression while giving kids the opportunity to speak about their lives in a... 
by Tracy DellAngelaBarber | Feb 21, 2019 | Fundraising Events, Julian, News, Spoken Word
‘Allowing teachers to see students for who they really are’ Buying a ticket to OPEF’s re-invented fundraiser not only allows you to support amazing enrichment programs in Oak Park schools, it also gives you a chance to celebrate an influential teacher who does... 
by Marta Segal Block | Jan 14, 2019 | D97 Schools, Julian, News, Spoken Word
Spoken Word teaching artist Isaiah Makar celebrated his birthday with a very special event, the first-ever Julian Middle School 6th Grade Poetry Slam. A participant from each class was chosen by their peers and presented their work to the entire 6th grade class. The... 
by Marta Segal Block | Dec 6, 2018 | News, OPEF Programs, Spoken Word
Thanks to a partnership with D97, OPEF’s popular Spoken Word residencies have expanded to include 6th grade as well as 7th grade. The original 7th grade program launched in Fall 2015. Spoken Word is a powerful and effective medium for fostering creativity and... 
by Marta Segal Block | Oct 19, 2018 | Brooks, News, Spoken Word
Fall is here and poetry is in the air. Seventh grade students in Ms. Stringham’s Language Arts classes at Brooks received the first Spoken Word residency of the year. Spoken Word artist Christian Robinson (also known as rapper Rich Robbins) met with...