Local Urban Poet Offers Creative Writing Workshops for Milton Hershey School Students

Milton Hershey School values thought leadership and continuously builds relationships with individuals in the community to fuel our students with hands-on learning experiences inside and outside of the classroom.

This September, Harrisburg native Julian (Juelz) Davenport offered a two-day creative writing workshop with MHS Senior Division students with the theme, “Words Have Power.” Davenport, an urban poet, shared his personal experiences with poetry and how it has helped him express himself through trying times.

“I love working with MHS students because they are the future and the ones that will mold the new world,” Davenport said. “I hope to have inspired and motivated them to share their stories through the art of writing and poetry.”

The creative writing workshops helped students embrace literacy and encouraged them to share their own written words with the class.

Over lunchtime, Davenport joined some of the LRC’s Student Advisory Board and the MHS Writing Club for a meet-and-greet event where students asked questions and got to know Davenport on a personal level.

“Juelz’s passion for poetry and his ability to relate well to our students makes him the perfect fit for MHS,” said Jennifer Hendry, MHS Learning and Resource Center Specialist. “Juelz has worked with us on a variety of projects, and we always have one powerful result: students write poetry and realize that their words have power.”

To culminate the workshops, Davenport prepared students to perform their poetry live at an MHS open mic event on Thursday, Sept. 30.

“The open mic event allowed students to express what they worked on during the workshops,” Davenport said. “I feel like becoming comfortable with who you are takes time and repetition. This open mic opportunity starts that journey for MHS students.”

The MHS community is encouraged to watch student videos and submit their own poetry to the Learning Resource Center’s poetry forum.