Educator DeMilla Prince has experienced InsideOut from multiple vantages in the Oak Park Public Schools: as a classroom teacher, then Assistant Principal, and now as Principal of Key Elementary. She remembers vividly the first time InsideOut entered her classroom.
“I had one student in particular who did not like to read or write openly. In class, he was pretty quiet. I remember when we started working on the poetry, it was just something he just really dove into. He looked forward to it every time that they came, and I saw a spark. I knew from that moment, anytime that the program was available, I wanted it in my class.”
Prince knows how much the InsideOut experience prioritizes the magic of the writing process, allowing students who may struggle academically to see themselves as writers while enjoying self-expression and improving their skills.
“It’s good to not always have to focus on every sentence capitalized, every sentence with punctuation. That’s where InsideOut brought some freedom and some liberty to our students who may not always be the best spellers, or may not always put the subject and the verb together the right way. They have the freedom and the safety to be able to do that with InsideOut. We went back and corrected those things, but just to allow them that opportunity to express themselves.”
When Ms. Prince learned about the InsideOut program and the possibility of having a poet in her classroom, she knew it was a program from which her students would benefit.
“A lot of students can relate to poetry as also dealing with rap and singing and things of that nature. I just thought here’s something different. Someone else in front of my students, another avenue where they’re learning some of the same things that I’m teaching in my classroom, but in a different way.
As Prince moves into her new role as Principal of Key Elementary School, she expressed gratitude for her experience with InsideOut and her excitement for the future.
“I’m looking forward to continuing the relationship with InsideOut. I think it is a very impactful program. I believe that it definitely just opens the eyes and ears and minds of our students. I’m thankful for you and all the writers that have come in over the years to work with me personally in my class, but also all the other students that you all have impacted in other teachers’ classrooms. I believe that it will help impact our students for a lifetime.”