Diane Luby Lane, Get Lit's founder and Executive Director, was interviewed by Misty Schwartz of Splash Magazine about the way Get Lit transforms classrooms using poetry.

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The interview can be found at this link. Read an excerpt of the interview below:

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Congratulations on the success with your foundation “Get Lit”, please tell us more about the what Get Lit is, does/ is?

Get Lit-Words Ignite has been using poetry to transform classrooms in Southern California since 2006. Over 10,000 students graduate from its award winning standards aligned English curriculum each year, and now with her creation of Uni(verse) the world’s first online poetry platform for the classroom, millions more will be served.For 16 years, Get Lit has met youth where they are, both physically and developmentally, giving them a straightforward, step-by-step entry into literacy and self-expression, and helping to remove barriers to learning and success. The results speak for themselves. Graduating Get Lit Poets have become Youth Poet Laureates, over 75% receive scholarships to college, they have performed at the White House 3 Times, been honored by the Library of Congress, have published books with Simon & Schuster, written films that have opened Sundance, performed on Broadway, won Fulbright Scholarships, won Grammys, and their videos have been watched over 300 million times.

Youth need to study great work, they need an outlet to speak and they need to know that someone is listening. Youth voices and youth stories are at the center of Get Lit’s curriculum in which students claim classic/contemporary poems that resonate with their hopes, dreams, and life experiences, then pen their own spoken word response poems, placing them in dialogue with the greatest poets and thinkers in history. Uni(verse) enlivens Get Lit’s curriculum online, and will allow millions more students to gain access to this curriculum across the country and all over the world.

We envision a world where all young people have access to the greatest writers and thinkers that human history has to offer, and will be heard and transformed academically and emotionally by being bonded to and part of this continuum. We visualize an exciting, equitable education system that inspires students to launch into their own curiosity, conversations, and excellence. And we are so proud to be on the forefront of creating this.