“Last summer, poet and educator JC Wayne began working with a small group of elementary school kids at King Street Center in Burlington. Wayne, the creator of the Poartry Project, and the group of students went for nature walks along Lake Champlain — with journals and art supplies in tow — engaging their observational and listening skills, and creating art and poetry together.
When the 2019-20 school year began, she started meeting weekly with a new group of students who attended King Street’s afterschool program.
“What JC is able to do is beautifully connect kids with nature,” said King Street community outreach director Gabriella Tufo-Strouse. Wayne uses drawing and storytelling to help kids express themselves, Tufo-Strouse continued, and makes poetry “easy” by demonstrating how words can be arranged to create a poem….”