September 12th, 2023 (Jackson, Ca)— The Amador County Arts Council is proud to present Find Your Voice – a six-week workshop series free to all Amador County High School students. Starting Wednesday September 20th from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM and continuing every Wednesday through October 25th, Amador County High School students have the opportunity to explore written and spoken words.

Located at the Historic Sutter Creek Grammar School, students will have guest speakers, teachers, and coaches to help find and strengthen their voices! Over the six weeks, there will be a variety of teaching artists to help guide them in their craft. Lee Herrick, the 10th California Poet Laureate, will be one of the headlining teaching artists. As a professor at Fresno City College, Herrick focuses on making diverse California experiences accessible through poetry. Traci Carlton, a local artist, will be leading Creative Expression is for Everyone, where students will work on finding their learning styles, inspiration, and how their talents have the greatest impact. Other individuals involved include emeritus Stockton Poet Laureate Tama Brisbane & With Our Words (WOW), teaching artist and Calaveras Poet Laureate Linda Toren, and Amador County Poet Laureates Margaret Lewis and Deja Douglas. Margaret Lewis says “It is my privilege and honor to be working with Amador Arts and Deja Douglas to bring together this diverse, creatively rich, and exciting group of speakers to provide our youth with an opportunity to explore, in a safe space, the art of poetry through education, self- reflection and fun!”.

Find Your Voice is a part of the Amador County Arts Council programming for Poetry Out Loud, a national competition and curriculum that teaches literature, public speaking, text analysis, and memorization skills. Students who participate in this workshop are not required to compete in Poetry Out Loud.

This activity is made possible by a grant from California Arts Council, a state agency available at arts.ca.gov. If you have any questions, need additional information, or want to register, please email deja@amadorarts.org or call (209)256-8166. Established in 1982, the Amador County Arts Council is a 501c3 non-profit organization devoted to advancing rural creative expression throughout Amador County. The Amador County Arts Council is the designated Local Arts Agency and State-Local Partner to the state of California and the California Arts Council, a state agency. Amador County Arts Council acts as a catalyst to sustain a culture of lifelong arts learning by providing hundreds of free art classes and professional support to rural creatives aged 0 to 26 and to the local creative economy at-large. Our services include intercultural advocacy, free online arts directory & calendar, and free grant-writing assistance for local artists and arts organizations.

Find out more at amadorarts.org, email info@amadorarts.org, or text/call (209)256-8166. CAPTION: Poetry is a powerful teaching tool, your voice matters! learn more about poetry education by going to poetryoutloud.org.