One by one, students mustered the courage and came up to the podium at Bowman High School to read aloud a poem from “The Redemption of You” — a collection of their own poems.
Marking Bowman High School’s 31st annual Day of the Artist and Poet festival on Wednesday, the front lawn welcomed attendees with not only live musical performances and poetry recitation, but also art projects created throughout the year by the school’s creative writing, art and music students.
The anthology is composed of creative writing pieces, compiled by teacher Michael Mansfield.
“Every story of redemption is a story of hope and struggle. Through our hardest times, we discover things about ourselves that we never knew …. Any student at Bowman High School can tell you they know all too well about redemption and second chances,” Mansfield wrote in the book’s introduction.
Over 180 pages, this year’s anthology saw the most poetry submissions in the high school’s history.
“This is actually a landmark year for us. This is the largest volume of poetry ever produced, it’s 182 pages of poems by leaps and bounds,” Mansfield said to the crowd. “It’s a record breaker, and it’s been a record-breaking year for us as well in the poetry program. It’s really impressive the talent that’s coming up here and we’re really happy to share it.”
For first-year Bowman 11th and 12th grade art teacher Olivia Hondrogiannis, who was experiencing the festival for the first time, impressed is an understatement.
“The art here today is a selection of things we did throughout the year. We did paper mache. Students designed an animal that they chose parts from other animals. We did Sacred Hearts, that was a painting with a combination of the clay heart — and was inspired by either a passion or a quote or something they’re devoted to,” Hondrogiannis said.
Hondrogiannis takes pride in knowing that the students are taking the initiative to not only express themselves creatively, but with others, as well.
“As far as the creative writing class goes, that’s all Mike Mansfield. I don’t know how he gets his kids to come up and read their poems. He’s a great motivator for these kids,” Hondrogiannis said. “It’s really exciting to see all the kids’ work and to let them have their parents and friends come see it.”
Senior Kevin Matias, 18, reflected on his art throughout the year, and how Hondrogiannis inspired him and his peers to create.
“I describe myself as an artist. I like creating stuff. I like putting what’s in my head onto paper. I like that our teacher’s very helpful and passionate about her job,” Matias said. “Everybody likes to communicate with each other, and when it’s time to get work done, we get work done.”
Matias’ favorite thing to create was a scratch board, using photos of a classic car and a rapper as reference photos. While the academic year, and overall high school experience, is concluding, Matias can envision a future in art.
“I see myself doing art in the future, where it be designing a logo, or doing something to help advertise,” Matias said. “It’s amazing having my work presented today. I feel special because I get to show what I did in class and what I liked doing. Bowman is great.”
