Poetry in Motion: Rail Writers Connects Students to the City through Literacy

By Carson Bolding

Dallas City of Learning, a city-wide initiative to promote experiential summer learning, is made possible through a network of partnerships with public and private organizations. Each of these organizations brings new perspectives, ideas, and activities to students all over the city. Throughout the summer, The Writer’s Garret has been an invaluable partner, leading students in a number of activities to put their thoughts and experiences into words.

Aaron Glover, Co-Executive Director, explains that The Writer’s Garret aims to “connect readers and writers through the power of language.” One of their programs, Rail Writers, takes this connection a step further, adding a third group to the mix: riders! Rail Writers began in spring of 2016 with the goal of helping “urban youth find themselves through reading, writing, and exploring communities while riding the rails to notable landmarks in Dallas” (Rail Writers).

SOARS campers from West Dallas and Red Bird had the opportunity to participate in this exciting program. On these day-long field trips, staff from the Writer’s Garret led the kids in writing workshops, drawing from their experiences at various stops in Dallas, such as the Dallas Museum of Art and Klyde Warren Park. After writing poems and stories, they shared them with DART riders at “flash mob readings” at various light rail stops.

Some students teamed up for group performances, including one entitled “If I Was the President…,” where five young poets shared their dreams for the future and invited the audience to reflect on their own dreams. Others brought their own creative flair, incorporating song and dance routines. One student shared his experience on DART, explaining that a mural he had seen while riding the train opened his eyes to a different perspective of Dallas, one outside of his neighborhood of Oak Cliff.

“Our brains are active 365 days a year,” Glover reminds us, emphasizing the importance of summer learning. Programs like Rail Writers teach us that learning doesn’t just happen inside the classroom, and embracing that mindset allows us to be “open, curious, and thoughtful” when approaching the world.