On Thursday, September 8, the 2012 New York City Youth Poet Laureate Program (YPL), a spoken word competition designed to energize youth voters through poetry, kicked off with an event in the Governor’s Room at City Hall. The event included performances by 2011 Youth Poet Laureate Justin Long Moton and the Youth Poet Ambassador team. Twenty-one students from all over the city registered for the YPL Program at the kickoff. Sponsors for the 2012 YPL Program were represented by John Jefferson of AT&T and Reggie Nance of Hot97.
New York City Public Schools Chancellor Dennis M. Walcott addressed students and Mayor Michael Bloomberg also stopped by to deliver his encouragement and good wishes. Afterwards, Council Member Robert Jackson, NYC Chief Service Officer Diahann Billings-Burford, Department of Youth and Community Development Commissioner Jeanne Mullgrav, and Campaign Finance Board Executive Director Amy Loprest answered questions from the students about civic engagement and the importance of voting.
The 2012 Youth Poet Laureate class with Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Chancellor Dennis M. Walcott,
Council Member Robert Jackson, and 2011 Youth Poet Laureate Justin Long Moton.
Council Member Robert Jackson presenting a proclamation to 2011 Youth Poet Laureate Justin Long Moton.
Also in the photo is Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Campaign Finance Board Executive Director Amy
Loprest and Director of Voter Assistance Onida Coward Mayers.
The YPL Program sponsors workshops for participants, ages 16-19, to hone their writing skills and teach them about voting and community leadership. The NYC Youth Poet Laureate and the Youth Poet Ambassadors will represent the New York City Campaign Finance Board (CFB) and its Voter Assistance Advisory Committee (VAAC) in their outreach throughout the city to potential youth voters. To learn more about the program, including workshop facilitators, dates and program timeline, click here (pdf).
We are accepting applicants for the YPL Program until Friday, October 7! Please pass the information about this opportunity to any enthusiastic student who would be interested in participating in this program! Students can sign up for the YPL Program here. If you have additional questions, please contact our Youth Voter Coordinator, Chyann Sapp at csapp@nyccfb.info or (212)306-5270.
The following is a list of upcoming events for YPL:
September-October 2011: Citywide Writing Workshop Intensives
October 22, 2011 (3PM) & October 23, 2011 (6PM): Voter Poet Slam Semifinals, Nuyorican Poets Café
November 5, 2011: Voter Poet Slam Finals, Cooper Union, 7 East 7th St.
The YPL Program is a partnership between Urban Word NYC and the CFB. Urban Word NYC presents literary arts education and youth development programs in the areas of creative writing, journalism, college prep, literature and hip-hop. It provides writing workshops to teens year round and hosts the Annual Teen Poetry Slam. Students interested in the YPL Program can contact Mikal Amin Lee, the Program Director, at mikal@urbanwordnyc.org.
