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8PEOPLEThursday, April 8, 2010 I f you have people news, contact Babette Stenuis Stolz, people editor, 439-9351 bstenuis@petoskeynews.com

Literate Matters

Aprilshowers

s witherse

April is my favorite month,ot only because of the spring

lowers and the regular sun-shine, but because it is National

oetry Month. Not a Hallmarkoliday, the commemoration isnod to the power and persis-

ence of verse.A recent celebration of this

ombination is Kay Ryans Theest of It. Ryan, the current.S. Poet Laureate, has enjoyedlong career in poetry, thougher work has long remained un-er appreciated.A native Californian, Ryans

ew book is a collection of newoems and old favorites. Start-ng with selections from 1994s

Flamingo Watching, therere also offerings from previousublications such as Elephantocks and Say Uncle.The first time publications

include the simplebut resonant TheEdges of Time,where Ryan ex-plains: It is atthe edges/ thattime thins. / Timewhich has beendense and viscous/as amber suspend-ing/ suspending

ntentions like bees/ unseizeshem. This suspension be-omes a humming, apparentlyoming/ from stacks of/ put-offhings.

Ryan regularly focuses onhese put-off things, intentn exposing the

spaces revealedhen time iseeled back.his process is

seen anew inVirga. Ryanshows, There

re bands/ inhe sky where/hat happens/atches prayers.Ryans poetry often conversesith the natural world, won-ering at the simple pleasuresritten in the unpretentious be-avior of the animals. In Howirds Sing, she details how,

One need not practice; / onesimply tips/ the throat back/

ver the spine axis/ and assertshe chest. This posture doublysserts the simple mechanismf song, alongside the marvelf the notes.Another recent volume of

ote is Wendell Berrys latestollection, Leavings. Berry,he farmer-writer from Ken-ucky who has penned novels,ssays, and poetry over a nearly0-year career, is, like Ryan,losely connected to the land-

scape. His voice has long echoedith a muscle strengthened bylife lived in fields planted with

rops of alfalfa and expectation.Though his poems tend more

oward the conversational,nd lean more regularly on theollectively reverent, Berry isyans contemporary in ways

arge and small. From Sab-ath, 2005-2008 he softly pro-laims, I know that I have life/nly insofar as I have love./ Iave no love/ except it come

rom Thee.Later he exclaims, Thoseho use the world assuming/

heir knowledge is sufficient/estroy the world. Berry cel-brates the power of the simpleithout isolating his audience

r his argument. This constantombining of purpose and wit-ess, wedded by verse, demon-

strates Berrys comfort at hisraft.Berry also unabashedly tra-

erses the landscape of politics.Out of charity let us pray/ forhe great ones of politics/thathey tooin their small-essmay know the greatnessf Earth. Berry and Ryan bothrade in optimism and wondern their new collections.

April is a time to celebrateollectively the power of poetry.ay Ryan and Wendell Berryrovide two powerful voicesorthy of this rejoicing.Good Reading.

len Young teaches English at Petoskey Highchool. His column, Literate Matters, appearshe second and fourth Thursday of each

month. Young can be reached at P.O. Box 174,Petoskey, Mich. 49770. Follow his blog atww.literatematters.blogspot.com.

GlenYoung

PETOSKEY

Glen Young, an English and advanced placement literature teacher

at Petoskey High School, teaches students at Gymnasium 18, a school

in Lutsk, Ukraine, a poetry lesson in English. Young visited Lutsk from

March 15-26 as part of an exchange program sponsored by the Bureau

of Educational and Cultural Affairs, U.S. Department of State and Inter-

national Research and Exchanges Board to promote professional de-

velopment in education. Young was one of 40 teachers from across the

United States selected for this exchange.

Petoskey teacher humbledby experience in Ukraine

Christina Rohn439-9398 - crohn@petoskeynews.com

He believes helearned more fromthe experience thanUkrainian stu-dents and teachers

learned from him.Glen Young, an English and

advanced placement literatureteacher at Petoskey High Schoolrecently traveled to Lutsk,Ukraine from March 15-26, aspart of a teacher exchange pro-gram.

Young, 48, was selected lastfall by the Bureau of Educa-tional and Cultural Affairs,U.S. Department of State andInternational Research and Ex-changes Board to be one of 40teachers from across the UnitedStates to participate in a two-way exchange program to pro-mote professional developmentin education.

Those selected for the ex-change were sent to 18 countriesthroughout the world, includingthe Caucasus, South and Cen-tral Asia, Southeast Asia, Southand Central America, and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Young was sent to Lutsk, acity populated by more than200,000 people in the northwestpart of Ukraine.

While there, Young spenta majority of his time meet-ing and conversing in Englishwith students in forms (grades)second through 11th in Gymna-sium 18 one of 20 schools inthe city.

Gymnasium 18 is a schoolthat emphasizes foreign lan-guage; English and Russianbeing their primary foreign lan-guage, he said. Other schoolsconcentrate on math and sci-ence.

Young said he was surprisedto learn that students in Lutskhad begun learning English infirst- or second-form (grade).

Their students seemed moremotivated to learn foreign lan-guage than our students weessentially expect to teach our

students foreign language, but(Ukrainians) put a premium onmastering it, he said.

During his nine days at Gym-nasium 18, Young said, ratherthan have him teach lessons,Ukrainian instructors had himconverse with students.

(The Ukrainian teachers)didnt need me to help themfind ways to teach their stu-dents English ... more than any-thing, they wanted me to speakEnglish to their students, hesaid. Most, if not all of thosestudents had never had thechance to speak English witha native, English-speaking per-son.

I was amazed and impressedwith the level of English-lan-guage skills the students had.

Young said, the same couldnot be said about his studentsif the situation had been re-versed.

I could take one of their 10-form students and put them onthe street corner in Petoskeyand they could find a place tostay, something to eat and callfor help if they needed to, hesaid. If I took one of my stu-dents to Lutsk, theyd be totallylost.

I think Americans tend tothink the rest of the world

should adapt to us, which I dontnecessarily agree with.Young said, if it wasnt for his

host teachers, he would havebeen lost as well.

I cant recognize anythingin the Ukraine ... Ive traveledabroad before, but Ive never feltcompletely unable to commu-nicate ... it made me feel totallydissatisfied with my foreign lan-guage skills, he said. My hostswould have to follow me to myhotels restaurant at night andhelp me read my menu ... it wasquite humbling.

In addition to his classroomexperiences, Young was also af-forded the opportunity, duringhis visit, to learn more aboutthe history of Ukraine.

Every day I would spend afew hours in the school, andthen Id be escorted on somecultural excursion, he said.We went to the theater, somemuseums and a 14th-centurycastle it was unlike anythingId ever seen before.

On his last day in Ukraine,Young was also able to tour Ki-ev, the countrys capital, whichis home to around 4 millionpeople.

Kiev was a marvel; I wasjust knocked out by the historyand the architecture, he said.

Everywhere we turned wasa monument I was awed bytheir history.

Now that Young has returnedto Michigan, he says he has al-ready begun planning ways toincorporate what he learned inUkraine to his classroom.

I would really like to linksome of my students to thestudents at Gymnasium 18, hesaid. I want to find a way tobreak down stereotypes ... thestudents in Lutsk tend to getmost of their information aboutAmericans from the movies,television and Internet, and Iknow my students tend to getinformation about their foreigncounterparts the same way.

Young said what this tripmade him realize, is that peoplearound the world are unique,but for the most part, very simi-lar.

I think these opportunitiesshow us that we arent that dif-ferent from people in other partsof the world, he said. And, bysharing our experiences, we canall improve what we do.

Young said he has alreadybegun looking for another op-portunity to teach abroad.

This was the greatest adven-ture of my professional career,and the measure of any such

adventure is your willingness togo back Id go back at the firstopportunity, he said.

I was amazed and

impressed with the

level of English-

language skills the

students (in Ukraine)

had. I could take

one of their 10-form

students and putthem on the street

corner in Petoskey

and they could

find a place to stay,

something to eat and

call for help if they

needed to. If I took

one of my students

to Lutsk, theyd be

totally lost.

Glen YoungPetoskey High School teacher

COURTESY PHOTO

Glen Young 1 of 40U.S. teachers chosenfor exchange program

Ukraine