INTERNATIONAL DAY OF FORESTS:  This global celebration of forest provides a platform to raise awareness of the importance of all types of forests and of trees outside forests.  Forests cover one third of the Earth’s land mass, performing vital functions around the world.  Around 1.6 billion people – including more than 2,000 indigenous cultures – depend on forests for their livelihood.

WORLD POETRY DAY:  “Every poem is unique but each reflects the universal in human experience, the aspiration for creativity that crosses all boundaries and border, of time as well as space, in the constant affirmation of humanity of a single family”.  (Written by Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO).  Poetry reaffirms our common humanity by revealing to us that individuals, everywhere in the world, share the same questions and feelings.  Poetry is the mainstay of oral tradition, and over centuries, can communicate the innermost values of diverse cultures.  One of the main objectives of the Day is to support linguistic diversity through poetic expression and to offer endangered languages the opportunity to be heard within their communities.  The observance of World Poetry Day is also meant to encourage a return to the oral tradition of poetry recitals, to promote the teaching of poetry, to restore a dialogue between poetry and the other arts such as theatre, dance, music and painting, and to support small publishers and create an attractive image of poetry in the media, so that the art of poetry will no longer be considered an outdated form of art, but one which enables society as a whole to regain and assert its identify.

FYI:  Wee Wisdom teaches poetry writing to students in our Summer Advanced Reading Program.  If your child is reading at a Grade 2 level or higher, he/she is eligible to take our poetry writing class in the summer.  Call for more information!