YAAS: Spoken Word Poetry Workshop

If you want to learn about the original conception and mission of this program, read my What is YAAS? post. TL;DR: It's a weekly group for youth age 14-24 where we'll be doing community service work, library programs, hosting guest presenters, and making connections with peers in a safe and welcoming environment.

This week we had a very special guest from our sister city location, the Mesa Arts Center. The MAC does a lot of diverse and wonderful programming, including poetry and hip hop workshops given by Tomas. YAAS members did a wonderful job following his directions and coming up with original, personal poetry.

Our group with Tomas post-workshop

I also wanted to share this video posted by Tomas about his background and why he pursued work as a spoken word artist and teacher. He is amazing at commanding a room and teaching valuable lessons in the exact way youth need to hear them. We were so lucky to host him!