Slam Jam: Poetry at CA Concord at 90
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September 1, 2007The Centipede Page 1 Volume 49 Issue 4 Concord Academy Student Newspaper December 4, 2012 Concord at 90: Slam Jam: Poetry at CA provided by co-heads Rost and Sodano. Par- Faust Reflects by Harry Breault ’16 ticipants then perform and receive feedback from the viewers in a form called “popcorn According to English Teacher and Slam by Charlotte Weiner ’13 In her speech, Faust explored the inspira- feedback,” during which listeners offer both tion she had found and the inherent contradic- Poetry Club Advisor Cammy Thomas, “Slam praise and constructive criticism in the form tions that she had experienced in Mrs. Hall, poetry is about theatrical performance, about of random callouts. Additionally, Rost and On Friday November 2, 2012, President putting the work across to an audience in a of Harvard University Drew Gilpin Faust a Headmistress who played an integral role Sodano recently added competitive slam in advancing Concord Academy to its stand- dramatic way.” The presence of slam poetry poetry to the meetings’ repertoire. ’64 delivered the keynote address to ap- at Concord Academy has become signifi- ing as a nationally-recognized all-girls high Of the meetings, Rost said, “We do per- proximately 900 members of the Concord cantly more noticeable this year, with regular school. According to Faust, while Mrs. Hall formance poetry. That’s why I did not want Academy community at CA’s 90th Anniver- readings at Announcements by members of in many ways preached the traditional values to just join Poetry Club, because they are sary celebration. In her speech, “Head Mis- Slam Poetry Club and the participation of of the time, she led a life that was uncon- amazingly talented [and] incredible writers, chief”: How Mrs. Hall Changed My Life and students in a literary festival in Boston earlier ventional for a but they are not performers.” Shaped Yours, this year. Faust spoke of woman during Rost said that, in contrast to conven- At the Boston Book Festival on Satur- her years at CA the mid-20th tional poetry, people write slam poetry with day, October 27, a group of CA students that and of Eliza- century. the intention of later performing their work. included Valentina Gregg ’15, Tyler Rost ’13, beth B. Hall, After “When I’m writing, I’m thinking, ‘Alright, Adam Sodano ’13, Will Stoddard ’13, and who served as the speech, right here I’m going to jump around in circles Callie Wadler ’16 showcased their talents Headmistress Faust reflected and scream. And right here I’m just going to during a slam recital at the Festival. At the from 1949 to on Mrs. Hall pretend to cry, or right here I’m going to yell Festival, held at the Old South Church in 1963. “I was and the per- at someone in the audience.’ With poetry, you Copley Square, the five students competed honored to spective she are typically just going to read it.” against each other in front of about 50 people. come back and offered on the Thomas agreed that there is a distinction The Master of Ceremonies was Regie really glad to female sphere. between the two genres of poetry. “I think Gibson, a professional poet who recently have a chance “She was there are two different styles,” Thomas said. visited CA to perform during an all-school to think about sending mixed “Some people call it the page and the stage. assembly. Rost placed first in the competi- Mrs. Hall,” messages in a [Slam poetry] requires a real sensitivity to tion, with Stoddard, Wadler, Sodano, and Faust said. “It sense, in that sound and also to who your audience is.” what she was Gregg following him. “It was a fun time,” was a good oc- Slam Poetry Club will continue to have and the super- Rost said. “I was really glad we did it.” casion.” weekly meetings this year, and plans to be ficial implica- On campus, the members of Slam Poetry In August involved in Bardfest, an annual poetry event tions of what Club run open meetings every Tuesday night 2011, Head of that Poetry Club organizes. Rost said that the she said were at 6:30. These meetings begin with prompts School Rick group also hopes to host their own slam soon. Hardy met so at odds,” with Faust for Faust said. the first time. “But, within “We had a fab- that, was her Goodbye, CABBS ulous conver- emphatic in- community. sistence that by Katherine Oh ’14 sation,” Hardy Library Director and Archivist Martha said. During we needed to This semester,CA is undertaking a tech- Kennedy, who arrived at CA in the fall of the meeting, ask big ques- nological transition that will have lasting 1994, said, “I think the best part was having Hardy asked tions, and not Faust and her former advisor, Sylvia Mendenhall. impacts on the community as a whole. CA one central place to go to leave messages Faust if she get lost in the Photo courtesy of www.concordacademy.org is transitioning from the use of the Concord and exchange information. Before CABBS, would consid- competitive, Academy Bulletin Board System, or CABBS, I remember using little pink memo slips and er being involved in CA’s 90th Anniversary day-to-day-ness of life.” that first arrived at CA over a decade ago to putting them in student mailboxes.” celebration the following year. Hardy re- Hardy said that, during his meeting a new system based on several different In- Today, CA students and faculty alike called that while Faust did not guarantee that with Faust in 2011, Faust had shared her ternet tools ranging from Evernote to Google take advantage of the variety of features that she could be part of the occasion, she imme- thoughts on Hall. “She said that [Mrs. Hall] Apps. CABBS offers: sending e-mails, receiving diately thought of Mrs. Hall. “She said, ‘Let was, in many ways, a revolutionary,” Hardy CABBS, first introduced at CA in 1994, and turning in assignments, storing files, and me think about it. This is going to involve said. “She was a woman doing things that was implemented at the school in January instant messaging. some research, and I want it to be good.’ I countered what was expected of women at of 1995. As a freshman, Jeff Green ’97 had Science Department Head Andrea prayed that she was going to be able to be the time, yet what she preached to [Concord submitted a proposal for CABBS and an Yanes-Taylor said, “CABBS has been use- free,” Hardy said. Two months later, Faust Academy’s] girls was very traditional.” accompanying Technology Committee. The ful for me, especially since I started moving agreed to speak on one of the dates that CA Faust continued, “In that sense, her newly created Technology Committee, which away from grading things on paper toward proposed. enforced female sphere gave her a bigger consisted of Green and a series of faculty electronic submission. I use e-mail and the “I was thrilled, of course,” Hardy said. picture in the bigger sphere than if she had members and administrators, played a key course conferences the most.” Academic “What that told me was not only that she just been consumed by the transactional role in establishing CABBS as an integral Dean John Drew agreed that CABBS has had squeezed us into an extraordinarily busy nature of ambition and what she called the part of life at Concord. CABBS received been a valuable resource thus far. “CABBS schedule, but also that she felt that she could ‘victory addiction.’” further support after the Committee presented has been an important resource for students do it justice.” continued on page 7... its plan to the Board of Trustees to integrate and adults for a long time,” Drew said. “It is new technology, including CABBS, into the certainly beneficial, and over time I think we CA community. Following the meeting, the have begun to consider CABBS a catch-all Inside this Issue... Board decided to grant the funding necessary application.” for further technological adjustments at CA. While CABBS provides a wide range of Coinciding with the establishment of services to its users, Drew said that, several the Technology Committee was the creation years ago, CA started thinking about ways of a special Task Force, which oversaw the in which it could take advantage of other integration of the new technology into the tools offered online. “There are some tasks CA community in 1995. Green, the original for which we have used CABBS that can be proponent of CABBS, served as the chief done more efficiently and better elsewhere,” administrator of CABBS at the time of Drew said. However, the administration and its arrival to the school. Green worked in the IT team began their research with the conjunction with Kirsten Hoyte, who at the idea that the new technology would serve to time was the Computer Studies Coordinator supplement, not replace, CABBS. Director of at CA. Currently, Hoyte serves as one of the IT services Bob Koskovich said, “The intent faculty CABBS Administrators. all along was to continue to support CABBS Although not widely used when it was as part of this [technological] ecosystem.” first introduced, CABBS drew an increasing Plans changed when the school learned number of students on a daily basis in the that the company that makes FirstClass, the late 1990s, largely due to Green’s continued software on which CABBS runs, announced efforts. Faculty members also started to in- a change to their business model. “We were corporate the technology into the classroom, participating in a webcast about the next ver- and the technology gained traction in the continued on page 5..