Kecoughtan High School students Zoom with poet

Twenty-three 10th grade students at Kecoughtan High School had an opportunity to Zoom with a current-day poet as a part of an extra-credit project. Students met with Latorial Faison, an award-winning poet, author, and professor at Virginia State University, on October 23, 2020.

Faison shared her background with the students and read her poems that express her feelings about current events. As stated in an article by Michelle Covington in the KHS Warrior Weekly, Faison says as a black woman in America, she feels obligated to take up the mantle of her forefathers and poetic predecessors, to speak truth to power, to provide an example of black artistry to whom young people can relate and aspire.

Faison shared her writing process and provided the inspiration for each of her poems she read. She also encouraged students to use writing as their own outlet.