Sarah Schroeder

Hands on Stanzas places Chicago poets in public school classrooms and inner-city youth centers for 20 weeks. The writing and reading of poetry encourages students to explore how words can convey their own thoughts, visions and emotions. As students take ownership of language, vocabularies grow, imaginations spark, books are read, and for some, educational stumbling blocks are conquered. This year, 6,600 students in 63 residencies at 51 Chicago Public schools began their journey into the world of words. This is an anthology of their poetry. --Poetry Center of Chicago.