Spoken word artists conduct wordshops with partner youth agencies. Wordshops focus on building the writing and performance skills necessary to succeed in this summer's open mics and poetry slams. More importantly, these skills are necessary to succeed in life. We deemphasize the competition to focus on the development of craft, voice, and identity.

Youth Speaks believes that programs which provide social and emotional support for youth help them succeed in school and in life. Contemporary research shows that social and emotional learning programs positively impact social and emotional skills, attitudes, behavior, mental health, school attendance, graduations rates, achievement test scores and school grades. We will be assembling a committee of professors, administrators, teachers, and spoken word-artist educators to examine the best way spoken word programs can keep the arts in language arts and support Nashville's teachers in their work with youth.