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the <br /> r <br /> ­ommons <br /> Shabazz brings his love of poetry to <br /> McDougle students <br /> Posted on October 19th, 2010 <br /> By Gloria Lloyd <br /> Carrboro Commons Staff Writer <br /> Ask students at McDougle Middle School in Carrboro what they think of their guest poetry teacher Phillip Shabazz, and <br /> you will invariably receive the same enthusiastic answer: "I love Mr. Shabazz!" <br /> Shabazz is a working poet who lives in Carrboro and has published three books of verse. Shabazz typically teaches poetry <br /> during residencies at 30 to 50 schools throughout North Carolina and the United States each year, spanning third grade to <br /> college, with a focus on middle school students. <br /> For more than a decade, Shabazz has taught poetry, a week at a time,to McDougle students. Beginning in fifth grade at the <br /> adjoining McDougle Elementary School, students spend a week studying poetry with Shabazz each year through the <br /> eighth grade. <br /> r. a <br /> w <br /> .3 �fi'tecew <br /> The week of Oct. 11, Shabazz taught over 100 eighth-graders in Kimberly Battle's Language Arts classes how to find their <br /> inner poet and express themselves through verse. Some of the students look forward to the week of poetry all year. <br /> 'To have someone here who is a working poet—it says that men are poets, African-Americans are poets,you can be a <br /> poet, you are a poet. It engages every student," McDougle Principal Debra Scott explained. "They see he is here and real <br /> and authentic, writing poetry you can understand." <br /> A decade ago, teacher Kimberly Battle was in the eighth grade at McDougle, learning poetry from Shabazz. Now, she is in <br /> her first year teaching and has lined her classroom with poetry by Emily Dickinson and Langston Hughes. <br /> "It's part of the artisan experience," said Shabazz. "Teach the art to the young, so they can find their voices,write, do some <br /> good, and as tradition goes, pass it on." <br /> Each day during Shabazz's residency, the students began by reading aloud any poems they wanted to share from their <br /> homework, which Shabazz calls their"home fun,"the night before. <br /> After hearing each other's work, the class would read examples of poetry and then compose their own poetry at the end of <br />