In between the lines of Jenks High School: We have a poetry club?
Photo credit: Jenks High School Poets Society Instagram
By: Lily Miller
The classroom is mostly quiet as you take a seat at one of the tables in the debate room turned a pavilion of prose. The air crackles with unspoken words and unsnapped fingers. Words that could invoke feelings that other spoken or written words could not. This is Jenks High School Poets Society.
Jenks High School Poets Society–that's the name of the poetry club founded by Elisha Dalmeida last school year, with Betty Stanton as the club's sponsor. The club last year was pretty big with Dalmeida as president, but since she has graduated and all the other seniors who were in the club with her have graduated as well, the club's numbers have unfortunately dropped. Poetry is a good form of self-expression, it's an outlet for emotions, and can be used as a form of activism. It's an important genre for those reasons.
“Whenever I was feeling down, I always felt like I could turn to poetry,” said Dalmeida, a member of the 2025 graduating class and a freshman at the University of Oklahoma. “Or just writing in general to cheer me up.”
Poetry is cathartic. For Dalmeida, it isn’t just a pastime; it's a coping mechanism and a healthy outlet for emotions. As it is for most people in the poetry club, looking for community or a haven. Everyone needs a safe place to write, and that is what the poetry club is for.
“I felt that by starting a poetry club I could create a place where EVERYONE could come and be open about their thoughts and feelings,” said Dalmeida. “In one of the most creative forms of artistry.”
Dalmeida said that poetry helped her when she was learning English, and writing it gave her a release from the struggle of learning English. Literature became a very important part of her life, which helped her involvement with poetry, ultimately leading to her motivation for a poetry club at our school.
“When I first participated in poetry out loud, I discovered that many of the contestants had a poetry club at their school that helped people be a lot more open to public speaking and writing,” said Dalmeida. “Even at speech and debate, I discovered a poetry club was predominant in schools.”
Elisha Dalmeida won the state champ for Poetry Out Loud
Photo credit: Arts OK Instagram
Poetry can push you out of your comfort zone, if you let it. Poetry isn’t only about writing, it is also about sharing those written words verbally, and growing public speaking skills.
“I plan on hosting meetings as regularly as possible,” said Nike Kuntjoro, a junior at Jenks High School and the club's current president. “And advertise Poet’s Society as a safe space for anyone to join at Jenks.”
Kuntjoro wants to continue Dalmeida’s plan of keeping the club a safe space for Jenks students. She also believes that it's important for all people who like poetry to be able to come together and explore poetry as a community.
President Nike Kuntjoro and Vice President Gillian Storm at the last club meeting.
Photo credit: Jenks High School Poets Society Instagram
“Poetry has allowed me to understand and create an art formed by the simplest words but deepest meaning,” said Kuntjoro. “It has helped me reflect on myself and grow to be a more creative writer.”
Poetry also helps you to be reflective of yourself, as Kuntjoro said. So when Dalmeida officially put together Jenks Poets Society Kuntjoro wanted to join immediately, leading to her becoming this year's president with encouragement from Dalmeida.
Team bonding game of cup pong from the first meeting.
Photo credit: Jenks High School Poets Society Instagram
“Poetry and the arts have always been incredibly important to me,” said Gillian Storm, a senior at Jenks High School and Vice President of the club. “It’s crucial we continue to promote the art and foster a positive environment for it, so naturally I had to be a part of the poetry club.”
The common theme of our poetry club is making a safe space for students to feel seen and heard. That's the environment that Dalmeida cultivated, and it's the environment that Kuntjoro, Storm, and all the other club officers are trying to continue to keep.
“To me, poetry feels like being seen.” Said Storm. “It's rare to read emotion in exactly the way it feels- simple, deep, and true.”
Storm’s opinion on poetry reflects the passion that she and everyone in the club shares for poetry. It means different things to everyone, but it is all very important to everyone.
Poetry club is a very important part of schools that include it, and ours is no different. It's a safe space for everyone, it creates memories and friendships that can last a lifetime (especially with the team of awesome officers), and it pushes you out of your comfort zone sometimes with its public speaking facet. Dalmeida worked hard for this club to come together, and the energy is always lively and welcoming. JHS Poets Society is truly the place to be!
