Our Programs
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, RESIDENCIES, & WORKSHOPS
Phonetic Spit has engages with tens of thousands of young people in the greater Phoenix area. The majority of our programming exists in classrooms around the valley where Phonetic Spit teaching artists perform, demonstrate, educate, and conduct workshops that often feature poetry, spoken word, creative writing, and performance. We conduct residencies and workshops in group homes, shelters, schools, and juvenile detention centers.
YOUNG VOICES RISE: Youth Poetry Festival & Unity Festival
As a part of our partnership with the Mesa Arts Center (Project Lit) we host two annual festivals, The Unity Festival, and our Youth Poetry Festival. Every fall students from across the valley gather to bond, engage in workshops, poetry readings, and leadership exercises and celebrate their voices as a part of our Unity Festival.
Each spring Phonetic Spit produces a youth poetry festival dedicated to celebrating youth voices in the valley. We publish a youth poetry anthology and host a valley-wide youth poetry slam at The Mesa Arts Center. These events are dedicated to supporting students who participate in Project Lit but are open to the public and youth across the valley.
PROJECT LIT
In partnership with Mesa Arts Center, these standards-based residences are facilitated by trained Phonetic Spit Teaching Artists who lead creative writing and poetry programs at 15 Valley schools. Programming features sponsored after-school poetry clubs, in-school Rush Days, and immersion workshops, and features two youth festivals dedicated to valley-wide community building.
RUSH DAYS : Single Day Presentations
These showcase-style presentations feature some of the most talented poets and performers in the valley. All assemblies are appropriate for middle and high schools and can be combined with theme-based creative writing workshops facilitated by trained Phonetic Spit teaching artists. We work with schools and communities to develop program formats that serve cater to individual community needs, parameters, and scheduling.
Mic Check: Youth Open Mic
“Mic Check” is the only consistent youth open mic in the state of Arizona. We partner with Free Arts of Arizona every third Saturday of the month to provide young & emerging adults the opportunity to engage with other young artists, cultivate their creative and authentic voices, and celebrate youth arts culture in the valley.
Poetic Immersion Workshops
Poetic immersion workshops can occur both in the fall and spring semesters. These creative writing workshops are designed to drive poetry club attendance and reach a larger population of young people within the school. Many students have extracurricular obligations that keep them from joining the poetry club, such as jobs, siblings to watch over, sports, theatre, etc. We've found that it is important to meet these students in the classroom so that they, too, have an opportunity to express themselves through Project Lit and Phonetic Spit programming.