Workshops
Below are select past workshops from the Poetree Project by Aidan Cobb.
Lansing Community Library
Lansing, NY
We held two workshops at Lansing Community Library in Lansing, NY in February 2025. The first session consisted of 3rd and 4th grade participants and the 2nd session included 5th and 6th graders. Both sessions were full of creativity and enthralling discussion. We read and analyzed “Dreams” and “An Earth Song” by Langston Hughes. We also discussed Henry Walton’s 1836 print East View of Ithaca, Tompkins County. Students produced wonderful writing focusing on themes of nature, change of seasons, and personal feelings. The collective art display is hung in the reading room of the library.
Spring Writes
Literary Festival
Ithaca, NY
We were proud to be featured as a part of the Spring Writes Literary Festival in May of 2025. In this workshop, we read and discussed “The Dream Keeper” by Langston Hughes and “Who Has Seen the Wind” by Christina Rossetti. Students did an excellent job of connecting the poems to Henry Walton’s 1836 print East View of Ithaca, Tompkins County. Participants’ writing focused on themes of time, growth, and nature.
Horizons at the Foote School
New Haven, CT
In July of 2025, we partnered with Horizons, a summer enrichment program serving low-income students across the country. We held two workshops at Horizons at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, CT, and an additional workshop at Horizons at the Foote School in New Haven, CT. We discussed a number of Langston Huges poems including “Dreams” and “The City” with specific focus on metaphor and figurative language. Students did a wonderful job dissecting the details of Faith Ringgold’s Tar Beach #1and pondering its message. The collaborative “Poetrees” produced in these workshops are on display on the campuses of Sacred Heart University and the Foote School, respectively.