Guest speaker Taylor Mali visited on the Upper Campus on Monday, September 12 for a special assembly with students and faculty. He held workshops with 7th and 8th grade English classes and also spoke to our 5th and 6th grade classes. Taylor is a former independent school teacher, poet, and advocate for the teaching profession. He is one of the most well-known poets to have emerged from the poetry slam movement and one of the few people in the world to have no job other than that of poet. Mali is a vocal advocate of teachers and the nobility of teaching, having himself spent nine years in the classroom teaching everything from English and history to math and S.A.T. test preparation.

He has performed and lectured for teachers all over the world, and his New Teacher Project has a goal of creating 1,000 new teachers through “poetry, persuasion, and perseverance.” Thanks to the Guindon family for helping to facilitate his visit to IMS. You can learn more about Taylor on his website or view more videos of his inspiring and funny live performances.

Animated version of Taylor Mali’s poem “Totally like whatever. you know?” from Ronnie Bruce on Vimeo.