As reported in the Washington Post, slam poet Gayle Danley teaches Maryland school children that it’s OK to express their pain. Often funded by the Maryland State Arts Council, Danley enters local schools and shares her poetry writing and performance skills under a program she calls Five Steps to Slam Poetry. A former slam champion, Danley instructs children on writing process in an exciting and entertaining way, in part, she tells them, in the hopes that “my words would make your words start kicking around in your heart.” Her personal revelations, such as the poem “Last Time I Saw You,” a moving piece about her close friend Lorenda Gordon, a teacher who was killed last year in an automobile accident, offer students examples of creative outlets for dealing with their emotions. One student, when asked about his workshop, replied, “I learned how to express my feelings and sometimes you feel like crying. When I read my piece, it loosens up my heart.”