Highland Springs High School juniors Malai Keys and Leah Berryman took the stage together at the fourth annual Henrico County Public Schools (HCPS) Black History Month Poetry Slam, held Wednesday at the Henrico Theatre. The two students overcame nerves to earn top honors at the divisionwide event.
“When I went up there, I just really thought about the people that this could be empowering and inspiring to do their own thing — get up there and talk about what they believe in,” said Malai.
The event, organized by the HCPS Office of Empowerment, Development and Opportunity, featured a range of student performances under the theme “The Future is Watching Us.” Students from across Henrico County shared poems reflecting on their ambitions, generational identity, and challenges faced both personally and globally. In addition to overall recognition, students received awards for elements such as rhythm and impact.
Malai wrote a piece performed with Leah that focused on the unseen struggles of young women and called for societal change in how women and others are treated. Their performance followed Varina High School sophomore Wesley Hassmer’s poem titled “Revolution.”
In the middle school segment, Short Pump Middle School was represented for a second year by eighth grader Mahee Jain. Fairfield Middle School featured three performers: triplets Ke’Niyah, Ke’Shawn, and Ke’Vontae Smith, each performing individually.
“They were so good. The whole time I was just snapping, snapping,” Malai said about her fellow poets. “How they articulated, the things they talked about — I was, like, I didn’t even think of that when I was writing mine. I thought, ‘Dang, I could’ve used that!’”
Leah added: “This was also most of their first times (performing on stage), and they were just confident. They went up there, said what they had to say, and put it all out there on the floor. It was so good.”
The program also included performances by Highland Springs High School’s gospel choir and Precision Step Team; a solo by Twania Jones; and a Black History Month video from Baker Elementary School.
Before the event, workshops were offered by HCPS’s Empowerment team to help poets prepare. Leah credited student voice coordinator Tiffany Dabney for encouraging her participation: “She really wanted to push us and see what we could do and that we could make mistakes, so she was a big contributor.”
Both Malai and Leah agreed that participating in the poetry slam gave them—and other young writers—a valuable platform.
“Getting pushed and getting that encouragement that we can go up there and we can speak, and we can actually talk about what we believe in,” Malai said. “It really encouraged us, and I think it will encourage people to do the exact same thing.”
Henrico County Public Schools serves students throughout Henrico County adjacent to Richmond in Virginia [source]. The district is led by Superintendent Amy Cashwell [source] and emphasizes positive learning experiences through dedicated staff [source]. HCPS has been recognized for teaching excellence [source] and operates under its motto: ‘The right to achieve. The support to succeed’ [source].