Register for the Spring 2023 Edition of Ignite Pongo!
Tickets & Registration
Attend this training from Pongo Poetry Project to cultivate your skills in trauma-informed poetry mentorship with youth!
Pongo Overview
Pongo Poetry Project is a Seattle-based nonprofit that uses personal poetry to facilitate healing among youth coping with devastating traumas. Our mission is to engage youth in writing poetry to inspire healing and growth.
At the heart of our program is the Pongo Method, an evidence-based, trauma-informed technique for teaching poetry, created in collaboration with child psychiatrists, expressive writing therapists, and academics. Pongo’s approach offers youth a safe, gratifying way to express feelings about some of the worst experiences imaginable, including abuse, neglect, and exposure to violence.
About Ignite Pongo
By attending this training you will learn & practice the Pongo Method to facilitate powerful personal poetry that inspires healing & growth in your community! In this immersive training, you will hone your skills as a Poetry Mentor, learn how to remove barriers to self-expression, & encourage honesty from survivors of difficult life experiences. During the day’s activities, you will write your own poetry & experience the relief & joy that comes with the Pongo Method.
Techniques You Will Learn
- Learn how writing poetry engages trauma, supports racial justice, and inspires healing & growth
- Discover how to facilitate a group poem
- Observe & practice mentoring Fill-in-the-Blank poetry writing
Training Materials & Add-Ons
Writing With At-Risk Youth: The Pongo Teen Writing Method ($34.95): Please purchase via Amazon.
Written by Pongo’s Founder, Richard Gold, MA, Writing With At-Risk Youth (2014) is the time-tested, essential field-guide to starting your own poetry project.
Ignite Pongo Training Participant Materials Packet ($10-shipping included): Please purchase via Eventbrite page.
Participants not ordering the packet will either have to a.) print out the packet at their own cost or b.) have the electronic version of the packet digitally accessible while doing the training.
We highly recommend this packet accessible in print-form as we will be referencing it throughout the training. Relying on just the electronic version during the training is not recommended for those with only one computer screen and/or those uncomfortable navigating multiple windows while in online Zoom trainings).
Meet Your Trainers
Ashley Skartvedt, MFA, CTRS/R, RYT-500
I’m Ashley Skartvedt, Co-Executive Director, Programs for Pongo Poetry Project. I’ve been affiliated with Pongo since 2013 and have served as a volunteer, mentor, trainer, and project lead. I’ve spent the majority of my career as a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist and Yoga Instructor helping people heal from trauma by leading therapeutic groups for youth in psychiatric hospitals and teaching mind-body awareness to adults in yoga studios. As a lifelong learner, I’m passionate about sharing my knowledge with you, so you can make a positive impact on the individuals and communities you serve. I have an MFA in Creative Writing and Poetics from the University of Washington, Bothell and enjoy writing poetry, sharing my creative work, and uplifting the voices of others, especially those who are affected by institutional and systemic oppression.
Nebeu Shimeles
I’m Nebeu Shimeles, Co-Executive Director of Development & Finance for Pongo Poetry Project. I’ve spent the majority of my career in nonprofit development, with over a decade of work with a diverse array of community-based organizations and individuals in service of meeting their fundraising needs and realizing their respective missions. I’ve been with Pongo since 2019, initially joining as Development Manager prior to assuming my current leadership position.
Pongo serves youth who are dealing with compounding interpersonal and systemic inequities, the foundations of which are often unaddressed trauma. These systemic inequities – whether they be institutional racism or economic precarity – are sources of trauma in and of themselves. I’m excited to support you in adopting Pongo’s methodology, because I know that sharing our effective, empathetic, and healing intervention with more youth can play a crucial role in advancing social justice.
Scholarships
A limited number of partial scholarships are available to those who present a significant need. To request a scholarship for this training, please fill out the application via this link.
Scholarship applications are due by Friday April 14, 2023.
Filming Consent
By registering for and attending Ignite Pongo, all guests agree to the following statement:
I understand that Pongo will record this event for educational purposes, and that images of me and recordings of my voice may appear in the completed recording. By registering I consent to the depiction and use of my image and words in the completed recording and the future use of the recording by Pongo for educational purposes only. I understand that depictions of me will not be used commercially, by Pongo or others, and will not be given to, sold to, or shared with any person or entity other than Pongo or used for any purpose other than Pongo’s educational purposes. I release Pongo from all liability in connection with the educational use of the recording and images identified above.
Support
Pongo is grateful to 4Culture for its support, which makes our public programming possible!