Nearly two dozen students participated in the Slam Poetry event in the Pavilion Thursday, Jan. 19. The evening had students and teachers reciting poems, both original and borrowed, on a variety of topics, ranging from gender identity and sexual orientation to acceptance and equality.

Slam Poetry has for 10 years been part of Awareness Week, which has taken place at Oak Park High School for nearly 20 years. This year, the event culminated in karaoke.

“A big role of ours is to bring up topics that are thought-provoking and can start positive change,” senior Advanced Peer Counselor Claire Goldes said.

Goldes, alongside fellow senior and Advanced Peer Counselor Camille Polk, had been planning this year’s Awareness Week program since August, and also participated in the Slam Poetry event.

“It’s been a terrific opportunity for the student body to get to learn things they otherwise wouldn’t get to learn,” Polk said.

Sophomore Talia Vail attended the event. According to Vail, the poems dealt with students’ personal stories of coming out, and acceptance of other races, genders and sexualities.

“There were a few that were ‘you should love yourself because there’s always going to be that one person that loves you.’ It was a very feel-good sort of topic,” Vail said.

Counselors Julie Heeney and Janet Svoboda helped oversee the event. Both worked at Agoura High School prior to coming to OPHS in 2008 and 2010, respectively, and are currently in their third and sixth years of serving as Advanced Peer Counseling advisors. Heeney said she believes that the event was especially rewarding this year.

“In a coffee house vibe, much like what you would find in the city, students feel safe to express themselves in an artistic venue,” Heeney wrote in an email. “This year, nearly every student [who attended] participated.”

Science teacher Ken Jones kicked off the event with his original composition. Jones, an avid poet, said he believes that the event was an excellent venue for dialogue about topics that aren’t widely discussed.

“Any forum that allows people to say what they feel and say that honestly, in an environment that’s not judgmental, is valuable,” Jones said.

According to Heeney, because Slam Poetry was not a family event, the presented poems were uncensored — a few contained profanity.

“In some instances, profanity expresses the anger and frustration students feel more accurately than day to day language,” Heeney wrote in an email.

The evening concluded with Heeney singing a duet with senior Will Carter: “I Will Survive,” by Gloria Gaynor.