Grefe’s Poem Project Interviews

Ms. Grefe is a 9-10th grade English teacher here at Estancia and she decided that in the second semester of the school year she would assign a poem project for her freshmen class.  She says that these poems would challenge her students to look at their experiences in a new light and enable them to better understand each other in the classroom.

English Teacher Ms. Grefe at her desk

She also shared that through this project, she would also be able to see where her students were coming from and see what they were feeling and how they can convey their emotions in their own writing.

“I was looking for students to write reflectively, so I want them to be, maybe, a little bit more thoughtful, or even vulnerable than usual. I was also looking for them to be creative and pick an image that they could play with and maybe have some fun writing about what they can connect to, as well.”

Ms. Grefe said that as she read over her students' work, she saw a few that stood out to her that were written by John Aldaco, Lalaine Chaverria, and Isabella Castro Bustos.

John believes that Ms.Grefe wanted the students to put a lot of time and effort into their poems.  He said what affected him the most while doing this assignment was looking back at past memories and having to relive it.

“It made me think about the past year that has gone by and reflect on it.  It was kind of tricky having to remember the past. It made me feel sad, but happy to move on.” 

 Another student named Lalaine Cheverria says that this project has made her realize a few things about herself and has put a lot of effort into her writing.

“I was thinking about, kind of like the dark times that I had, cause mine wasn’t the greatest so I wrote about it and talked about how me moving here to Estancia made my life a little better.” 

Ms Grefe smiling for a photo at her desk

Lalaine also says that she mentioned feeling alone and thinks readers would be able to connect and relate to her poem.

 Isabella Castro Bustos says that she felt emotional when completing this project and that those feelings poured into her work.  It was difficult for her to put her memories and feelings into words but she felt very dedicated to the project.

 Through Ms. Grefe's freshmen poem project, her students gained experience with imagery and improved their communication skills in writing while also coming to terms with past memories and feelings.  By the time the poems were done, her students had gone through difficult parts of their lives and were given a sense of closure and felt relieved that they were able to move on.  These students are thankful to Ms. Grefe for giving them the chance to go forward.