After the inception of our Spoken Word Rōpū in 2024, we are back again for another year of sharing our experiences through the love of poetry! 

Recently, 9 of our amazing rangatahi mustered up the courage to share their stories at regional heats #4 for WORD The Front Line - an inter-high school spoken word poetry competition, bringing together teams of young people from across Tāmakai Makaurau to share their stories in an explosion of youth expression. 

Waitākere College entered two teams into WORD this year, and of the 14 teams that were selected, Waitak Team 1 made it into the semi-finals! Waitak Team 2, although they weren’t successful in making the semi-finals, have been invited to join an adjacent slam competition called He Reo Rangatahi. 

He Reo Rangatahi is designed as an alternative pathway for all regional heats students who do not make it through to finals. This spoken word and leadership development incubator will include online and in person workshops, events, mentoring, and culminating in its own poetry slam later in the year. So watch this space!

A big mihi to our amazing young poets: Angelica Sabili, Tyler Treanor, Delta Johns, Phoebe Dela Cruz, Mya Bennett, Esha Ram, Taipua Kipa, Zara Small and Jaedyne Pearl Maiyon. Not only have they been writing their poems, rehearsing through and honing the bravery to step up to those mics over the last few weeks. They’ve also been uplifting one another, showing up in the best ways they know how, and really step up as a wonderful group of rangatahi. 

We have semi-finals and events coming up, so keep your eyes peeled on our socials, wc_spokenword, the newsletter or the daily pānui for more information.

Peace and Poetry,

- Whaea Lee