Schools

Peabody Students 'Louder Than a Bomb,' Headed to Finals

Teen poets headed to state final in poetry slam festival.

English teacher Nate Leland had said his students would be part of history just by competing in the inaugural statewide poetry slam festival, but the Peabody team did even one better this past weekend, securing a spot in the final round of competition for a shot at the title.

"Our team did very well. We overcame some early setbacks to advance to semi-finals, where we placed second, missing first by less than half a point," Leland told Peabody Patch.

The festival, Louder Than a Bomb: Massachusetts, which was sponsored by MassLEAP and held at M.I.T. over the weekend, saw 16 teams from around Massachusetts compete in two rounds.

Find out what's happening in Peabodywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Peabody now advances to the finals on April 13 at 7 p.m. at the Villa Victoria Center for the Arts in the South End, squaring off with Somerville, Worcester and Newburyport to decide who is the state champion.

"We are all very excited about not only our progress, but much more importantly the vibrancy of the community that MassLEAP has fostered and given a safe space in which to grow and mature. In the face of such awesome success at such a fundamentally important cultural event, we are quite humbled by the fact that we get to be in the finals at this inaugural competition," Leland said.

Find out what's happening in Peabodywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Over the past year, a number of Peabody teens have participated in several local poetry slams in preparation for the festival.

The Villa Victoria Center for the Arts is located at 85 W. Newton St. in Boston. Admission is free with a student ID. All others are $10. Tickets are available at brownpapertickets.com. The even is expected to sell out. You can also check out massleapcollective.org/louder-than-a-bomb/ for more information.


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