VIDEO: Students and guest poets dazzle at Denny International Middle School 8th-grade Poetry Slam

Poetry Slam participants Delicia Figueroa, Ruby Garcia Campos, and Alex Garcia

Story, video, and photos by Jason Grotelueschen
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

A packed house filled the Denny International Middle School Galleria on Thursday evening for the 13th annual ]8th-grade Poetry Slam, featuring spoken performances by more than 50 Denny students and special guest poets.

After a welcome from Denny principal Mary Ingraham, literacy teacher and event organizer Colin Slingsby (at right in the photo below) and assistant principal for literacy Michael Kamin praised the bravery and talent of the participating students as they express themselves through poetry:

The teachers also explained the “slam etiquette” and format, including the audience’s use of “snaps” to show encouragement and appreciation.

The official motto of the event, which was decorated as a backdrop on the stage, was a Swahili proverb with a theme of unity: “A boat doesn’t go forward if each one is rowing their own way.” Here is a PDF of the official program for the event. 

Although Slingsby and the other organizers repeatedly emphasized that the focus of the event was on the overall experience and participation, not on competition, a panel of esteemed judges did evaluate and score every performance:

From left-to-right that’s former Denny students Addison Johnsen-Whited, Doe Doe, and Alex Casamalhaupa, who each also helped start the show by performing a poem of their own, along with fellow former student Hazel Simper (who Slingsby said he invited to perform her poem Rosemary because it was “one of the best poems I’ve ever heard,” and here’s our video of it: Hazel Simper – Denny 2025 Poetry Slam)

At the end of the night, the winning poets (as pictured in the photo below, courtesy of poetry teacher Emily Neeleman) were:

• Group Category: Leo Sewell (second from right) & Franklin Jansens (at right) 
• Individual Category:
  • 1^st: Nathalie Latterell (second from left) 
  • 2^nd: Franklin Jansens (at right)
  • 3^rd: Chloe Bonnici (at left)

The student emcees for the event, keeping things moving between poets, were Marco Cendejas, Lizbeth Garcia and Isaac Naranjo-Lopez:

Also providing audio flavor between poets, as well as music during the pre-event dinner in the galleria, was Denny slam mainstay DJ Sureal:

Before the current Denny students took the stage, guests were treated to poems by professional guest poets Jamaar Smiley (see our video here: Jamaar Smiley – Denny 2025 Poetry Slam), a West Seattleite who Slingsby said he reached out to via his website and was pleasantly surprised to get an enthusiastic response, as well as Smiley’s guests Gentleman Dro and Wizdom the Wordsmith:

Then it was time to hear from the talented Denny student poets, such as Lyn Visick:

Topics from the poets ranged from the serious to the lighthearted, everything from gender issues and abuse to sports and food (see below). Most of the poets performed individually, and here are videos of a couple of them:

• Birtukan Weredekal – Denny 2025 Poetry Slam
• Salma Abdin – Denny 2025 Poetry Slam (Abdin credited her peers and teachers for encouraging her to write and share her uniquely “silly” poem, an ode to Chipotle Mexican Grill, which drew a big crowd response especially from like-minded Chipotle-loving fellow students)

Some of the poets performed as groups, in “two-voice” or “three-voice” style, and here are some videos of those:

• Greta Gardner and Elsa Elton – Denny 2025 Poetry Slam
• Violet Butler and Jayla Tran – Denny 2025 Poetry Slam
• Ellison Taylor, Chloe Bonnici and Nathalie Lattarell – Denny 2025 Poetry Slam (Bonnici and Lattarell also won individual awards for their performances)
• Franklin Jansens and Leo Sewell – Denny 2025 Poetry Slam (this video is short, due to some technical difficulties, but this duo won the “group category” for the night, and Jansens [left] also took home an individual award):

Among the more serious recurring themes of the night were poems about the immigrant family experience and international family heritage, with several poems delivered in Spanish (with English translation on a projector):

Slingsby thanked attendees for coming and students for participating, and also gave special thanks to a host of volunteers and helpers who made the event happen, including: Denny teachers and leadership, Seattle Parks and Recreation, the Denny City Year team, El Paisano Rosticeria y Cocina, DJ Sureal, the special guest poets, and former Denny students/judges.  

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