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Regional High School students expose their soul, write from the heart
Opening their hearts and exposing their souls, Anoka- Hennepin Regional High School( AHRHS) students employed poetic license to express their deepest feelings.
Weeping over a beloved grandmother’ s death, enraged at a parent’ s betrayal or determined to make their own way, the sophomore students exercised rarely expressed emotion when they read their original poetry aloud during a Dec. 1 poetry reading at the school.
Students recognized the value of the exercise in spite of the pain that may have been ignited during the writing process.
“ I found out I write my best poetry when it’ s about something I can relate to: depression. It helped me be able to explain it to others,” said student Marissa Jenkins.
Another student, Kadetra Brooks, wept as she read the poem she wrote about her granny’ s death.
“ I’ ll have to see you in another dream,” she said in one stanza of that mournful lyric.
“ Writing my poetry let me express feelings I never had been able to express before,” she said.
Classmate Tyler Johnson had never written poetry before, and to his surprise, he discovered that he liked doing it.
“ I found out I could write one good poem. Now I might write more,” he said.
Diego Vazquez, Jr., writer-in-residence at AHRHS, worked with the students in Kristi Weidlein’ s English class during a six-week period and called it a“ remarkable experience.”
“ It’ s amazing to see what these kids can do. Some of them went from writing about their favorite basketball team to really writing, really expressing some personal thoughts, really writing about themselves,” Vazquez said.
English 10 teacher Kristi Weidlein hugs writer-in-residence Diego Vazquez, Jr. after she and assistant principal Megan Hendrix thank the poet for his work with students and present him with a Regional High School T-shirt.
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That’ s really important,” Kiefer said and then named several more influential teachers at the high school.
“ Mr. Tice was a math teacher I really liked. Mr. Brown and Mr. Cochran were amazing teachers in industrial arts. Mr. Wolf was a brilliant electronics instructor. Mr. Kruge was chemistry and really knew how to excite students with lessons. Mr. Guy Resse, aviation science, was another one who really had a passion for the subject and it rubbed off on us. I had a great time in high school,” Kiefer said.
Employing the“ buddy system,” Kiefer enlisted in the Air Force with his best friend, Rob Gutkaes, and his neighbor, Mark Luke. While his buddies became aircraft mechanics, Kiefer scored highest in electrical mechanics and pursued that specialty with the Air Force.
While an Airman, Kiefer continued following his passions for science and mathematics, studying at Air Force College, Orange County Community College and Clark Community College.
Anoka-Hennepin Regional High School student Jerome Swanson reads his light-hearted poem about his“ big hair.”
Vazquez visited the classroom several times a week during the six-week period. He gave students exercises and assignments, exposed them to raw and emotional poetry and challenged them to take a risk with their own.
“ They were scared at first, nervous, but I just guide them to their own direction and try to reach their hearts. These kids take such risks and I told them there is no bad poetry. Just get it out, get it down on paper. What they got down is remarkable stuff,” Vazquez said.
A published poet and novelist, Vazquez said he finds great joy and inspiration in working with the students.
“ Poetry always reaches your heart. It’ s the quickest connection to the heart with no road blocks,” he said.“ I just guide them in the exercises, let them respond and react … create on their own as much as possible,” he said.
Vazquez’ s work with the students was made possible through a partnership with Banfill-Locke Center for the Arts and Allina Health. High school administrators recently learned that Vazquez will be returning as writer-in-residence another time as well.
“ This has been an amazing experience,” said Weidlein.“ We truly have some amazing students here at Regional and Diego really allowed them to have their own voice – and they have some amazing voices. With Diego they’ ve become better writers, better risk-takers. We’ re so glad we’ ve been able to have Diego here and so glad that he will be returning.”
Vazquez expressed his eagerness to working with emerging writers.
“ To see the progression is truly remarkable,” he said.“ At first they can’ t think of what to write and soon they reach the heart in such a remarkable way. It’ s astounding.”
To learn more about Anoka-Hennepin Regional High School, visit ahschools. us / ahregional. ■
After three and a half years of active duty with the Air Force, Kiefer took an“ early out” and attended Anoka-Ramsey Community College, Hennepin County Community College and the University of Minnesota while working at Honeywell.
“ I received an AA( Associate of Arts) and AS( Associate of Science) and have over 390 college credits. Most of the credits are technical, science and / or engineering,” said the well-educated Coon Rapids graduate.
In his professional life, Kiefer has done contract engineering and consulting work for 3M, NSP, Microtron, Analog Systems, ATK and Stratasys, among others.
“ Yeah, I’ ve done a lot of engineering and to be an engineer you have to be kind of nerdy. That’ s okay. I never had a problem being nerdy,” Kiefer said. ■
PREPARING STUDENTS FOR LIFE
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a top priority. At the top of the current year’ s list in this area are strategies for improving math and reading proficiency across the system, and focusing on effectively using technology to support learning. For students that are already proficient, we are looking at ways to enhance our gifted and talented programming. We have also been developing a new STEAM( science, technology, engineering, arts and math) program at Anoka High School.
Looking forward to the next school year, we will continue to implement our math and literacy strategies. There are also plans to improve special education services, implement recommendations in our talent development program, improve specialty and magnet school offerings, and continue a commitment to early learning programs.
We want to make sure our schools continue to be safe and welcoming for all students and great places for learning. Our district is thoughtful in planning in this area as well. This past year, we provided training for all employees on crisis response. We have also provided facility upgrades as recommended by law enforcement and our crisis committee. Students perform better when they are engaged in school and feel safe.
Ensuring this system of some 38,000 students and 6,000 staff members has effective organizational support is a third strategic priority area and essential to reaching our goals. From effective planning of financial resources to recruiting and retaining employees to streamlining our internal data sharing, we are as committed to improvement operationally as we are instructionally.
One of the bigger efforts operationally is our need to ensure our facilities meet our needs. In the months ahead, the School Board will be determining next steps for a district facility plan that has the potential to shape our school district for the next decade and beyond. The 32-member, Fit for the Future Task Force has developed and presented a series of options to address current and future facility challenges. In the tradition of Anoka-Hennepin schools, the School Board turned to the community to review and make these recommendations, and this dedicated group worked for over 10 months on this detailed review and recommendation. Please review the front-page article in this issue of the FOCUS for an overview of this process or visit ahschools. us / fff for more information.
Our district values involvement and interactions that lead to improved outcomes for our students. We work hard to create the type of schools that meet and exceed community expectations. This work is ongoing and only benefits from engaged and involved students, staff, parent / guardians and community.
Thank you for your ongoing support of our schools as we work diligently to pursue our mission of preparing students for life. ■