TJ offers a wide variety of clubs and activities to its students so that everyone has something they can be a part of. One such club is the poetry club, sponsored by English teacher, Samantha Schreier. 

Poetry club is scheduled to begin practice Thursday, October 8th in room B219 directly after school. Anyone interested in poetry club should come to a practice and see what everything is all about. 

The Poetry club writes and performs poetry, as one might think, but they also perform in a slam poetry event called Louder Than A Bomb (LTAB). 

LTAB is a competition between schools all across Iowa and goes all the way through the national level. The competition is very competitive and is something that the poetry club members look forward to all year. 

However, last year’s competition was canceled due to concerns with the Corona Virus. 

LTAB Great Plains released a statement saying, “As disappointing as the cancellation sounds, the weekly work by our amazing teaching artists and participants is the heart of LTAB, and that is something we are proud of this year.”

Despite the sadness with last years’ cancellations, LTAB is going to happen this year, with modifications to ensure everyone’s safety. 

Since things have to be run differently, LTAB is having a kickoff fundraiser to help raise the funds needed to run the competition this year. 

The fundraising portion of the event is happening at the Chipolte restaurant on 72nd and Dodge street on October 5th from 4-8 PM. If you tell the cashier you’re supporting the Nebraska Writer’s Collective, they’ll donate 33% of the proceeds to help fund LTAB! Visit this page for more information about ordering online or through the Chipotle app.

On October 5th from 4-6 PM, The LTAB participants, coaches, and teacher sponsors can drive-thru and meet the Executive Director for LTAB, Matt Mason, at the Northwest corner of Target parking lot on 72nd and Dodge Sts. (near the Crossroads sign!) in Omaha. Participants, coaches, and teacher sponsors will also be able to receive an LTAB tee-shirt, though supplies are limited so you must act fast! 

Tee-shirt distributors will be wearing gloves and masks, though they ask that anyone planning to drive-through is masked as well. 

Everyone is excited that LTAB can happen this year so we ask for your help to make it a reality. We hope to see you all there!