ffpc logo

Community Outreach

   

Furious Flower Poetry Center values community outreach.  We do poetry readings and host workshops throughout the region.    If your school, organization or company is interested in offering a writing-centered activity, please contact Jill Wade at staleycj@jmu.edu or 540-568-8883.
 

 

Poet Tree Reading at the Edith J. Carrier Arboretum

 

In celebration of National Poetry Month and Earth Week, a group of James Madison University students and staff joined with community members to share poems at the Edith J. Carrier Arboretum on Tuesday, April 23, 2013.  Poems were collected and left in the poem catcher basket that hangs on the weeping willow by the pond known as the Poet Tree. 

To read the poems left at the Poet Tree, visit the Edith J. Carrier Arboretum's Poet Tree page.

 

 

Staunton Parks & Recreation Departments's 6th Annual All Girl Conference

 

On Saturday, April 20, 2013 Furious Flower Poetry Center's Amber McBride joined middle and high school girls at an all day event designed to connect girls with community resources. Ms. McBride taught a workshop on poetry.  The event included keynotes speakers, interactive informational booths, workshops, food, and giveaways!  The 2013 Conference theme was: Girls Going Green: Saving Mother Earth!

 

 

 

Thomas Harrison Middle School Poetry Slam 2013 

 

 

On Friday March 15th, 2013 Furious Flower Poetry Center and Thomas Harrison Middle School PTO hosted the third annual THMS Poetry Slam. Students, parents, teachers, and community members gathered in the library to see student photography and hear students’ original poems as a celebration of Art Month. Students performed a selection of this spring’s musical High School Musical Jr. Judges awarded student poets prizes for their readings. It was a great event to close out the PTO’s Art Month classes. 

 

 

 

WVPT 10th Anniversary Kid's Book Festival

 

 

On Saturday, June 2, 2012 staff members from the Furious Flower Poetry Center participated in the WVPT 10th Anniversary Kid's Book Festival at the Rockingham County Fairgrounds.  Jill Wade, Poetry Camp Coordinator, along with FFPC student assistants Kayla Runion and Kat Dolan helped the children make glittering star pencil wands.  The children also received a star-themed activity book created by the FFPC staff and printed by RR Donnelley.  Other activities at this free family event included storytelling, magic shows and free books for the kids.  In addition, dozens of other organizations committed to the celebration of learning were on hand to inform parents and children about the learning opportunities in the Harrisonburg/Rockingham area.

 

 

 

 

JMU Community Poem

 

Joe Boelsche, Furious Flower Poetry Center's student assistant, collaborated with James Madison University students, staff, and faculty from November 7-11, 2011 to write the "Longest JMU Poem." The form is based on the ancient Japanese form of the Choka, which begins with a haiku followed by any number of two-line stanzas in which the first line contains seven syllables and the second line contains five.  Click here to read the poem.