Jessica Lopez brought the gift of words to a class of seventh-grade Capshaw Middle School students last week. In
two weeks, they'll do the same for her.

Lopez, a slam poet from the Albuquerque area, is one of some half-dozen poets working in three Santa Fe public schools as part of New Mexico Culture Net's Poet in the Schools program. The program, which began in Santa Fe schools back in 2004, connects students in grades seven-12 to poetry through a regular series of workshops that culminate in the kids writing and performing their own works.

Last Wednesday afternoon, Lopez energetically introduced herself to teacher Theresa Anaya Burney's sixth-period class of students with a slam performance of her original ode poem, Billie's Blues Are Mine. (The Billie in question is Ms. Holiday, the late jazz singer/songwriter.) She then taught the kids how to "slam snap" their fingers, stomp their feet and applaud like banshees, to put it mildly. Within minutes she had them on their feet, rattling off tongue twisters to get their mouths rolling and build their confidence.

She'll return Wednesday to help students write their own poems. A week from Wednesday, the kids will perform their works and receive feedback from Lopez.

Burney, a language-arts teacher who said she's had Culture Net poets in her classroom for about four years, said it beats learning poetry from a book -- "Some dead person who the kids cannot connect to," as she put it. "But to have them interact with a professional poet makes it cool, and poetry is not usually seen as cool. It helps the students understand that what we teach is important."

"Middle schools can be like Siberia when it comes to programs like this," said Alex Traube, executive director of Culture Net. "It's been my observation that these kind of programs are more readily available at the elementary-school level." High schools, too, generally offer strong arts programming for students, he noted. The program also runs in Ortiz Middle School and Santa Fe High School.

Traube maintained that this approach -- mixing a dynamic personality like Lopez with a group of kids who maybe have been spending too much time sitting in their chairs learning the necessary three Rs -- builds self-esteem and reinforces literacy skills. Burney said it actually ties into the district's academic standards and benchmarks.

Lopez's background includes serving as poet-in-residence at the Robert F. Kennedy Charter High School in Albuquerque, being a three-time member of the City of Albuquerque Slam Team, and co-editing the 2007 Earthships: A New Mecca Poetry Collection. She is the defending champ of the Silver Tongue Taos Poetry Slam, and her first collection of poetry, Always Messing With Them Boys, was published in 2011.

Lopez suggested the benefits of such a program are not always so easy to determine on the surface. "It impacts so many parts of students, both individually and collectively," she said. "Creative thinking skills, thinking outside of the box, public-speaking skills, retention -- programs like this keep kids engaged. And it ties into the community. If this is out there, and they want to do it, they will find it. If it's not out there, they can create it."

During the class, Lopez stressed the importance of detail in creating a poem, and asked the students to write out three very individual things about themselves that perhaps no one else knew. Almost every hand in the room shot up when she asked for volunteers and participants, and she rewarded the kids with colorful pencils.

"Write lots of poems with it," she told one boy as she gave him one.

He said he would.

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Contact Robert Nott at 986-3021 or rnott@sfnewmexican.com