Community SLAM Recap: An Unforgettable End To An Unusual Season
On Friday, December 10, America SCORES Chicago held its annual Community SLAM, bringing together more than 200 students from seven different schools to perform poetry and celebrate their accomplishments from the fall season.
Twenty individual poets and fifteen teams from elementary and middle school took the stage to perform for an audience of their peers, family members, and supporters. Each student showcased bravery, courage, and poise in a new and intimidating setting. Poems like “Moon Muffin” by Ivan of Orozco and “I HATE Growing Up” by Manual of Catalyst Maria made us laugh, while “Hate” by Quiana of Cardenas and “Dear United States” from Stephanie of Eli Whitney made us think about ourselves and our country’s priorities. The Eli Whitney middle school girls team’s poem “Mental Health” brought attention to an important social issue, and “Here in Pilsen” from the Pilsen elementary girls team painted a picture of their welcoming school community. Each performance showed our poet-athletes’ talent, insight, and hard work throughout the season. One of our standout alumnae, Camila Ruiz, pumped up the crowd and encouraged our poets as the emcee for the night, even performing one of her own original poems.
The evening was not just about poetry; it was also an opportunity to celebrate SCORES’ entire fall season, which included seven Game Days, one whirlwind Fall Frenzy encompassing poetry and soccer, and hundreds of hours of programming at our schools. To celebrate our poet-athletes' accomplishments, SCORES awarded a variety of awards to recognize teamwork, leadership, and commitment (TLC) of teams and individuals throughout the season. The awards included our Middle School All-Stars Team, recognizing the individuals from each team that most embodied TLC, along with the Golden Microphone, awarded to one elementary and middle school team for an outstanding team poem. Signature honors included the Golden Boot, awarded to one boys team and one girls team, and the Golden Ball, awarded to one school. After each Game Day, our referees and volunteers scored teams based on their demonstration of TLC. The teams and schools with the highest overall score plus highest practice attendance wins. Shoutout to Cardenas Elementary School and Catalyst Middle School for taking home the Golden Ball awards this year! See a full list of winners below and congratulations to everyone.
In addition, three judges selected poets to compete at our Red Carpet Poetry Slam (RCPS) based on their Community SLAM performances. This year, our judges chose 14 individual poets and one individual team to perform at RCPS 2022, which will take place at the Adler Planetarium on April 7 from 6:30 - 10pm. You can learn more about RCPS 2022 here.
Elementary School Awards
Golden Microphone: Pilsen Elementary School Girls
Golden Boot: Orozco Coed
Golden Boot: Catalyst Maria Elementary Schools Girls
Golden Ball: Cardenas Elementary
Middle School Awards
Golden Microphone: Eli Whitney Middle School
Golden Boot: Eli Whitney Middle School Girls
Golden Boot: Pilsen Middle School Boys
Golden Ball: Catalyst Maria