Arts & Culture
Lincoln Hills Poetry Project provides outlet for youth
The Pointer
kshan945@uwsp.edu
Poetry isn’t at the forefront of today’s art culture but University of Wisconsin Stevesn Point students are using the art form to do something unique. Through the Lincoln Hills Poetry Project, students and others are inspiring incarcerated boys to release their emotions through the medium of poetry, prose or stories.
The project was created in 1996 by a student, Erika Hall, who was incarcerated as a juvenile at Lincoln Hills School. While incarcerated, she wrote down all of her feelings and thoughts to get her through the tough time. What she didn’t realize was how essential those creative thoughts were and how they would transform her future for the better. With these thoughts in mind, Erika attended UWSP where she began to get involved with students interested in publishing and performers at coffee shops reciting their work. With many people interested in this area of literature, Erika knew that a poetry club would be beneficial on campus. She hoped that with all of these contacts, UWSP would encourage other Lincoln Hill students to put their emotions into creative writing and turn their lives into something positive.
Elaine Miller, the former cooperating teacher from Lincoln Hills, states that Erika’s work was not only beneficial, but also lasting. This project is going on its thirteenth year, helping mainly male students at Lincoln Hills.
“Erika’s 1996 UWSP poetry workshop concept has paid off in lasting ways. Our youths’ creative efforts have blossomed with the encouragement from the university students that come up to work with them. The youths learn important lessons about how to express themselves in appropriate ways for an appreciative audience. The talent generated in these groups has been inspiring,” said Miller.
Five times a semester, a group of students travel to Irma, Wis to hold workshops. Both the Lincoln Hills students and the UWSP students create their work to share with others.
“I appreciate the lessons the UWSP students [taught us], [it] helped not just me, but showed everyone what they are able to do if they try. Now, I’m writing poetry in my spare time. I never thought I would be doing that. Please keep the program going to help kids here learn that there is another way to express their feelings through writing,” said one Lincoln Hills participant.
“The UWSP students provide a sounding board and an attentive audience which helps develop their work and their self-confidence. At the end of the semester, the LHS students submit their work on a voluntary basis and the organization publishes it in an anthology. These anthologies are sent to the organization’s members, the LHS students, and to the LHS students families,” said project President Katlynn Paape.
This club, backed by the Student Involvement and Employment Office and supported by the English Department, is always looking for new members.
“I find it extremely important to help students find their own voice and was naturally drawn to this project. The members of the Lincoln Hills Writing Project are, in essence, teachers, and I enjoy working with them as they help the students at Lincoln Hills find a voice, develop their writing skills and publish their pieces for an authentic and real audience,” said group advisor David Roloff. This group shows that not only are you doing something for other people, you are doing something for yourself. Paape believes in this project whole-heartedly.
“I am helping someone to develop the tools and self-confidence to have a positive self-release and emotional purging rather than hopefully recommitting another crime. I can’t think of anything beyond the medical profession that can have such a profound effect on the human life, especially with so little given,” said Paape.
