EVOKING THE MUSE; POETS' CLASSROOM VISITS INSPIRE STUDENTS TO TAKE A STANZA.

Byline: Sonia Giordani Daily News Staff Writer

One by one, the poets in Cheryl Talbot's 10th-grade English class mustered the courage to head to the front of the room and share their 10-minute writing assignments.

Jessi Bastian had written of a favorite childhood toy that brings back memories of simpler days.

Rebekah Pearson wrote of the mystery of fire - sometimes powerful and thriving, other times flickering and undecided.

And Dzuy Vuong hit a lighter note with his poem about a vacuum cleaner - a slavish dual-cyclonic action Dirt Devil that sucks and lifts dirt at the user's command.

As the stanzas rolled off their youthful tongues, Simi Valley poet Ron Reichick smiled from a corner in the classroom.

``The first thing I want is for these students to have fun writing, and I want to tap their creativity - get them to write without self-censoring,'' said Reichick, who spends one day each week at Santa Susana High School summoning the muse.

Reichick is among a dozen poets in Ventura County participating in California Poets in the Schools, the nation's largest program putting poets into classrooms. Founded more than 30 years ago in San Francisco, the program took root in Ventura County nearly six years ago. Since then, public and private schools from Oxnard to Simi Valley have brought the poets in to complement the regular curriculum.

``Poetry is one of the best means of expressing oneself, and at this age kids really want to express themselves,'' said Reichick, an engineer by profession and the editor of Verve, a national poetry journal.

Reichick spends one class period each week with students, sharing various selections of poetry that have touched his life and reviewing poetic devices - metaphors, similes, personification - with the students.

But most important, Reichick said, is the time the students spend writing poems themselves and sharing them with the class.

``I want them to stand up and read their own poems. This is supposed to be an atmosphere of no pressure, no grades, no judging,'' he said.

For poet Richard Castaniero, encouraging his students to express themselves in poetry is the greatest gift he can offer.

``Everything is so rush-rush these days, even homework. Students can get their homework done, but they often don't put a lot of their own thought into it, and they are not inspired,'' said Castaniero, a former schoolteacher in San Francisco and a fourth-year film student in UCLA's graduate program.

An Oxnard native, he said he still makes time to visit his old high school and elementary school.

``I grew up there, and I wasn't exposed to poetry or film or anything like that where you can express yourself in your own way until college,'' he said.

``Few students, especially bilingual students who are struggling with English, see writing as an opportunity. But if you can encourage them to compose a poem, then they can transfer what they learn to essay writing as they build their self-esteem,'' he added.

For Talbot, who also composes her own poetry, bringing another poet and teacher into the classroom gives the students another perspective and further insight.

``A lot of the time, poetry ends up being the add-in. There's never enough time to spend doing just poetry. But with this kind of program, you give the students some time to really take it in without the pressure of grades. It's just for them,'' she said.

Pearson, the 15-year-old who wrote of fire, said she reads poetry at home and writes whenever the inspiration comes.

``When I heard a poet was coming to our class, I was really excited,'' she said. ``We learn a lot about poetry in class already. But this is giving me more of an idea of the different devices and techniques that you can use in poetry - that I can use.''

Poet and new Thousand Oaks resident Lucia Lemieux will start a program at the Boys & Girls Club in Ventura this month. Author of a recently published book of poetry, Lemieux added that she hopes to bring the program to Conejo Valley schools this year.

``The No. 1 thing to me is to make sure the children know that their self-expression is important and that their unique voices are important,'' she said. ``If I can give them a little spark, then I've succeeded.''

For more information about the California Poets in the Schools program, call Richard Newsham - poet and area coordinator for the program - at [phone].

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2 Photos

PHOTO (1--Color) Santa Susana High student Patricia Isidoro, 15, responds to a visiting poet's encouragement to boost creativity by imagining herself as an old gym sock.

(2) Ron Reichick tells a Santa Susana High School about the value of poetry as a means of expression.

Bob Halvorsen/Daily News