“Drop the Mic” Poetry Slam Game Builds Students’ Writing Skills

As the American dream of a college education leads more and more students to community colleges across the U.S., many schools are grappling with an influx of students not fully prepared for higher education.

A project at the Community College of Philadelphia is using spoken word poetry to support students who have not tested at the college level for reading and writing. Michelle Myers, a poet and associate professor of English, wanted to give these students confidence to take on different types of writing by first encouraging styles they have experienced.