Dilworth Team Conquer Melbourne!

At the beginning of December Action Education took the team from Dilworth School, the winners of Word - The Front Line 2017, to Melbourne, Australia.

Melbourne Spoken Word Prize
During the trip the team were fortunate enough to be the guest performers at the Melbourne Spoken Word Prize, Melbourne's largest and most prestigious spoken word slam. The boys performed a few of their poems from the Grand Slam, and immediately won over the crowd with their charisma and creative ability.

Trans-Tasman Slam
The pinnacle of the trip was the Trans-Tasman Slam, where the Dilworth boys had the opportunity to slam against the team from John Monash Science School, the winners of the OutLoud youth poetry slam in Melbourne. Each team performed 4 poems. It was a close finish, with Dilworth coming away as the Trans-Tasman Slam champions for 2017! After the Slam the teams had some awesome bonding time over dinner and dessert. It was a unique opportunity to engage with other young poets, proving that poetry is a great way to bring different communities together!

​Upside Down School
On the last day we performed poems and ran workshops at the Upside Down School youth poetry conference at the Wheeler Centre. This gave the boys the opportunity to facilitate their first spoken word workshops, and they were amazing! Even some of the John Monash Science School team came along! It was awesome to watch the boys stepping outside of their comfort zones to do something that they love, and are so good at. They were engaging, encouraging, and supportive, and held the space so well.

Throughout the trip we also had the opportunity to do some sightseeing, including the street art of Hosier Lane, op-shopping on Chapel Street, and going to Luna Park! 
​The trip to Melbourne was an amazing opportunity to showcase New Zealand's poetry and some of our country's best young poets. A massive thank you to everyone who helped make this trip possible. Since returning from the trip the Dilworth team has received several prestigious awards at school, and one of Jai's lines from his poem even came 3rd in the 2017 New Zealand Quote of the Year!
2017 has been an incredible year for Action Education and the Dilworth team! We look forward to what 2018 has in store!