From PA Humanities
A rainy day will soon be the perfect time for a visit to Reading Public Library to view the creativity and thoughtfulness of Reading’s young people.
Haiku written by local children as part of PA Humanities’ Rain Poetry project will be on display on the sidewalks throughout Reading, and some of those poems will be invisible until they get wet!
The first Rain Poetry Reading installation will be revealed during a public celebration on Wednesday, July 16, from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. (with a rain date of Thursday, July 17, at the same time), at the Reading Public Library Main Branch. The program will begin at 3:30 p.m. with speakers, followed by students revealing their poems using Rain Poetry watering cans!
The second installation will be at the Northeast Branch of the library, and the reveal celebration is scheduled for Saturday, July 19, at 1 p.m., while an installation at Lauer’s Park will happen later this summer with a celebration scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 13. All the poems written as part of the project in Reading will be published in a specially designed book.
Rain Poetry started in Philadelphia in 2023 and expanded to Pittsburgh and Johnstown in 2024. Reading is now the fourth site of this innovative youth literacy and public humanities project. This spring, PA Humanities partnered with Reading Public Library to hold poetry workshops with seventh graders at St. Peter’s School, fourth graders at Lauer’s Park Elementary School, and young patrons at the Main and Northeast library branches.
The workshops were led by teaching artists Adrian Perez-Roman — also known as Apito — and Caitlin Johnson, youth services supervisor at Reading Public Library. Together, they guided students in discussions around the theme “The Colors of My City” and taught them the art of haiku. Workshops were conducted in both Spanish and English, and students were encouraged to write in the language they felt most comfortable using.
Some of those poems will now be stenciled onto the sidewalks using a special, temporary spray that’s invisible when dry but appears like magic when wet — hence, Rain Poetry! Other poems will be installed as decals, creating a walking poetry path for the community. The display will last up to three months.
Dawn Frisby Byers, senior director of content and engagement at PA Humanities, said, “This project is kind of magical not only because the invisible poems appear seemingly out of nowhere when it rains, but also because they draw out previously invisible experiences and create moments of unexpected communication — between, say, a young person discovering the power of self-expression and the neighbor out for a walk who suddenly encounters their words.”
Perez-Roman, who has lived in Reading his entire life, said the students’ work shines a light on the city’s beauty.
“There can be a negative outlook on Reading, but the kids highlight the positives,” he said. “They’re showing you a different side that not everybody gets to see. Everything they brought out was all the beautiful things that they see around them, and that, to me, is so cool. That’s what we’ve got to keep alive. As adults, they remind us of the small, little things that matter.”
Here is how some of the participating students responded to the workshops:
- “I like that poetry can be anything. I could be creative.”
- “I never wrote my own poem before.”
- “The thing I like about poetry is you can write what you did today.”
- “I like the creativity that my classmates came up with.”
- “One thing I liked was that we got to write.”
- “I loved everything about this lesson.”
- “I like that I finally learned poetry.”
- “It made me feel nice. I got to learn what a Haiku is. Best day ever.”
Here are some of the haiku they wrote:
- “The streets filled with art
Our minds filled with color
Hope starts in this place”- Hadassa P., Annalise S., Grade 7, St. Peter’s School
- “Nature is vibrant,
Just like the bright pagoda
Our city is like art”- Wozniaki B., Walleska Z., Grade 7, St. Peter’s School
- “The sun is rising
Birds are singing in branches
Rainbow of feathers”- Janessa C., Grade 5, Reading Public Library
- “When the rain has stopped
And when the sun has appeared
Colors arc the sky!”- Adelle G., Grade 5, Reading Public Library
The Rain Poetry project is made possible with the generous support of the Wyomissing Foundation and the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, under the administration of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Commonwealth Financing Authority, and the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
The post Rain Brings Sidewalks to Life With Creativity of Reading Youth appeared first on BCTV.
Source: bctv