At Marian Middle School, Black History Month is a living, breathing curriculum. And on Friday, Feb. 27, that learning will take center stage as students present original work at the school’s second annual Poetry Slam, hosted at Power Creative. The program blends student‑written pieces with selected works from celebrated poets, giving Marian girls the chance to honor the voices that shaped Black history while discovering the power in their own.
What began last year as a creative extension of Black History Month has quickly become a signature Marian tradition—one that transforms cultural study into lived experience. Principal Sierhah Price says that’s exactly the point.
“Nothing we do is generic or one‑size‑fits‑all,” she said. “Our programming is rooted in the identities, stories, and the potential of our girls.”
The Poetry Slam grew out of Marian’s commitment to helping students experience culture through all five senses. Instead of memorizing facts about Black history, students are invited to feel it, question it, and connect it to their own lives. That immersive approach now shapes the school’s Black History Month and Hispanic Heritage Month programming, ensuring students see themselves reflected in the material they study—and understand the communities that came before them.
This year, that reflection is especially meaningful. The Poetry Slam is intentionally paired with a deeper exploration of Mill Creek Valley, the once‑thriving Black neighborhood erased by urban renewal in the late 1950s. Students have been studying the community’s history in class, examining how a place so full of culture, activism, and everyday joy could be wiped from the city’s landscape.
The learning will culminate in a self‑guided tour of the Missouri History Museum’s “Mill Creek: Black Metropolis” exhibition, followed by a school visit from author Vivian Gibson. Her memoir, The Last Children of Mill Creek, chronicles her childhood in the neighborhood before it was razed. For Marian students—many of whom live in communities shaped by similar patterns of displacement and resilience—Gibson’s story offers both a mirror and a map.
The experience is made possible through Marian’s partnership with the St. Louis Chapter of The Links, Incorporated, which provided funding for student books and transportation. The collaboration, paired with the expertise of Marian’s English Language Arts teacher Zenique Gardner‑Perry—an established writer with a personal connection to Gibson—ensures students can fully engage with Mill Creek’s legacy.
For Gardner‑Perry, the Poetry Slam and the Mill Creek study are two parts of the same lesson.
“Writing helps our girls understand who they are and where they come from,” she said. “When they learn about Mill Creek, they’re not just studying history—they’re learning how Black communities have always created, resisted, and rebuilt. Their poetry becomes part of that tradition.”
Teachers have already seen that connection deepen students’ confidence. The Poetry Slam blends curriculum expectations with creative freedom, giving students space to experiment with language, take risks, and support one another. The writing process becomes less about perfection and more about discovery—an opportunity to honor the past while shaping their own narratives.
Marian Middle School is the only all‑girls private middle school in St. Louis serving urban adolescent youth from lower‑income backgrounds in a faith‑based environment. Every experience is designed to help girls feel seen, supported, and empowered as they grow academically, socially, and spiritually. Price says that’s what makes programs like the Poetry Slam so transformative.
“Students are encouraged to step into new environments, engage with different cultures, uplift their own, and feel grounded in who they are,” she said. “Experiences like the Poetry Slam and the Mill Creek partnership reflect the kind of learning Marian believes prepares young women not only for high school, but for leadership, service, and confidence well into adulthood.”