The centerpiece of the D-League's community relations platform is the Read to Achieve initiative. As in the NBA and WNBA, Read to Achieve works to build a lifelong love of reading in young people by providing greater access to books and technology, as well as to provide support to schools, community organizations, and other nonprofits as they work to encourage kids to read. This year as part of the Read to Achieve initiative geared towards high school students, the Tulsa 66ers are glad to present 66ers Poetry Slam.

The 66ers Poetry Slam is geared towards reaching teens by combining the popularity of hip hop and poetry and intended to motivate and inspire creativity and self expression through written and spoken word.

The main goals are to cultivate creative and abstract thinking, to enlighten the teens to unique forms and a different concept of the arts, and to empower the teens to release their thoughts, feelings, and emotions through positive outlets.

Reading and writing poetry are not only positive outlets for teens to express themselves and interpret the world around them; it also instills a passionate connection for a hidden and often deeper meaning that what is often communicated on the surface. Learning to adequately and positively express one’s thoughts, feelings, and emotions empowers teens to be successful in school, at home, and throughout society.

Teens will attend one-hour jam sessions once a week during the months of September through February. Jam sessions are informal poetry forums where the teens will have the opportunity to gain advice, obtain critiques, and learn lessons from guest speakers, as well as get the opportunity to share and elaborate on their own poetic works.

A variety of resources will be presented to give the teens an outside opportunity to increase their own personal knowledge and awareness of poetic forms and concepts.

For more information contact Shavon Grayson at (918) 398-6937 or sgrayson@tulsa66ers.com