UA’s 57 Miles Initiative Offers Creative Outlet for Black Belt Teens

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The University of Alabama’s Honors College is offering a Young Voices Conference for about 50 high-school students from Francis Marion, Pickens and Greensboro high schools.

The conference will be from 1 to 6 p.m. Saturday, April 11, at UA’s Russell Hall. A showcase will be at 5 p.m. in the Russell Hall auditorium. The performance is free and open to the public.

The high-school students will share their poetry, engage in poetry workshops, attend admissions workshops and take a campus tour.

The event is part of Outlet, a new program within UA’s 57 Miles initiative.

In Outlet, teams of carefully selected students lead classes in schools in West Alabama. The students use poetry to promote literacy and to develop safe spaces for youth in the Black Belt. The use of poetry gives students the opportunity to take ownership of their own narratives and identities.

The students in attendance at the conference have participated in Outlet this year, and this event serves to showcase their work.

For details on the event, contact Anastasiya Titarenko of the Honors College at anastasiya.a.titarenko@gmail.com or 205/348-5500.

Founded in the summer of 2013, 57 Miles is a campus-community partnership between The University of Alabama Honors College and Perry County. Through 57 Miles, the distance between UA and the Perry County community, Honors College students have year-round opportunities to give back to communities in need, learn about the Black Belt’s history and put education into action by tackling the challenges of rural poverty.