By Alana Frank
Photo Editor
Costa’s Healthy Relationships Committee hosted its first Poetry Night, which featured
original poems written and performed by Costa students in the small theater on Dec. 8.
The Poetry Night was organized by the Healthy Relationships Committee, which meets
on Tues- days during office hours and lunch in the Student Union. According to senior
and co-leader Will Schneider, the committee is a student- led organization that aims to
edu- cate the community about consent and sexual relations.
“The Healthy Relationships Committee mainly focuses on sexual assault prevention and
survivor support,” said Schneider. “PoetryNightwasessentiallyour attempt to create a
place for kids to be vulnerable and to see the same from their peers.”
The poems performed at Poetry Night highlighted a variety of student experiences,
includ- ing sexuality, love, survivor sup- port, friendships, gender identity, and
harassment. The committee worked with MBUSD District counselor Eliza Santarosa,
counselor Nicole Torres, Vice Princi- pal Daniel Pestle, and the Costa Tech Department
in preparation for the night.
“Everyone had powerful topics, and it was refreshing being in a room where everyone is
accept- ing and feels comfortable to ex- press their feelings and thoughts,” said senior
Rebecca Rytz. “The poems were written so well, too.”
Students from all grades per- formed original sonnets and hai- kus; however,
participation was not limited to Costa students. Some of the poets also recited
anonymous poems that were submitted to the Healthy Relationships Committee via
Instagram.
“I really liked Poetry Night be- cause everyone did such a great job and made an effort
to make the audience feel comfortable,” said junior Ava Ford. “A lot of poems were
super personal, and it was in- credibly brave of students to get on stage and read them
to a crowd.”
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