It's both a way for them to heal personally and sort of get their emotions out and deal with them, but also to share with each other.

I have kind of mixed emotions about (my rookie year). On one hand, I've kept my card for next year, which is basically a huge relief and a huge accomplishment. It's not an easy thing to do for a rookie,

I have kind of mixed emotions about (my rookie year). On one hand, I've kept my card for next year, which is a huge relief and a huge accomplishment. It's not an easy thing for a rookie to do,

Over the next four days, I want you to write about your deepest emotions and thoughts about the most upsetting experience in your life. Really let go and explore your feelings and thoughts about it. In your writing, you might tie this experience to your childhood, your relationship with your parents, people you have loved or love now or even your career. How is this experience related to who you would like to become, who you have been in the past, or who you are now?

The performance is part of a larger picture. Getting up and performing poetry in front of big crowds is another way for these kids to view their lives from a different perspective, and we want the kids in our program 20 years from now to be reading the books some of these kids have written.

It's a different scene now than when we started, because the kids have each other as role models. But it's more than just writing, it's an entire generation of youth culture looking to express itself, and the writing has attracted them from all walks of life. No matter their grades or the neighborhoods they come from, they can all use words.