Blair Fair, Silent Auction and Poetry Slam to be held Friday

This Friday from 5:30 to 9 p.m., the annual Blair Fair will be held for the entire school community. At the same time, the Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA) will be hosting the Silent Auction to raise money for its program, according to coordinator Donna Beausoleil. From 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., the third annual Poetry Slam will be held in the Media Center.

The Fair is open to all community members and will showcase accomplishments and talents of students and staff. "Its [goal is] to invite members of the community into the school and highlight student centered activities," said Magnet Coordinator Dennis Heidler, who helped organize the event.

The fair will be held on Blair Boulevard with food for sale and music from the Jazz Lab band, the guitar ensemble and inspirational choir. According to Heidler, several groups - including the Robotics Club, the Fashion Club, Blair's chapter of the Gay-Straight Alliance, Diversity Workshop, the Vault and the science department will host activities.

Additionally, there will be four sporting events later in the evening, including softball and baseball games against Sherwood at 7 p.m., a boys' lacrosse game at 7 p.m. and a street basketball game in the gym. The street basketball game is open to all students who sign up beforehand with physical education teacher Emmanuel Charles, according to sophomore Styvens Duclean, who is playing a game.

At 7 p.m., the Mr. and Ms. Blazer competition - a talent showcase for upperclassmen - will take place in the auditorium, according to competition coordinator and English teacher Danyel Hartfield. Auditions to perform were held on Monday and winners, as deemed by a teacher panel, will each receive a set of two free prom tickets.

In the Student Activity Center (SAC), the PTSA will be hosting the silent auction, selling item and service donations from parents and students to raise money. In 2005, the PTSA used the money they raised to buy new computer monitors. Beausoleil says that they earned about $9,000 last year, and have raised upwards of around $10,000 in years prior.

Unfortunately, donations this year were limited, so expected profit is significantly lower. "We're short this year by around 150 donations," Beausoleil said. "I'm hoping for around $8000." Students, staff and parents are encouraged to bid on items. The PTSA is also in need of volunteers to help run the event.

Among the medley of events, the Art Fair in the Media Center will be an attraction from Thursday until Monday. On Friday, the Art Fair will be open from 5 to 9 p.m. Staff and students can choose their favorite works by noting them on their invitation sheets. Winning artists will receive "recognition and a pat on the back," art teacher Janet Berry said.

During the annual Poetry Slam, Blazers can perform their poetry on stage and watch others perform. Although anyone is free to exhibit their poetry, the event is a competition. A panel of three student judges and three teacher judges will issue each poem a score out of ten. The three entrants with the highest score will win. Last year there were 21 entrants, of whom then-junior Rex Jarrett took third with "One shot revolver," then-junior Jacob Weisman took second with "Taking it back" and then-sophomore Jessica Diaz-Hurtado took first with "Two shades."

Entrants will have three minutes to perform their original poem with no music, props or costumes. All poems must be previously reviewed by the Media Center staff - though they prefer to get poems on Friday, the selections can be reviewed up until 10 to 15 minutes before the program. "Poems can be about love or other topics but you need to keep it appropriate," said Media Specialist Irene Catzva, who coordinated the event. In a surprise visit last year, State Senator Jamie Raskin came to recite his favorite poem, a Walt Whitman selection.