How one college uses a poetry tree to increase student engagement
The legend of the Poetry Tree at Randolph College dates back to the 1960’s, its protagonist an English professor named Margaret Raynal.
Every Spring, Margaret would write out the poem, ‘Loveliest of Trees’ by A.E. Housman, and hang it on a cherry blossom tree near the front of the school as an homage to both the cherry blossom and springtime.
Margaret’s annual springtime poetry hanging has since taken on a life of its own for the entire campus community at Randolph College. Faculty, staff, administration, and students usher in the excitement and youthfulness of springtime by hanging their favorite or original poems with ribbon on the same tree.
For many campuses, cherry blossoms are pretty to look at, but for Randolph college, they are the center of an engaging springtime campus tradition.
This blender event is both beautiful and engaging. A tree, at the entrance to campus, covered with poetry is a splendid image, and a hard experience for a student to walk by without noticing. Students, administrators, and faculty gather at the tree between classes, reading the poems and sharing the moment together. Suddenly, engagement on campus has increased with the rising temperature.
In Dance Floor Theory, we talk about using unexpected surfaces to create this effect.
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MEET Tom
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Tom Krieglstein has trained over one million people, won eight national speaking awards, given a TEDx talk at UCLA, and once got edited off The Oprah Winfrey Show.
He’s the founder of Swift Kick and creator of Dance Floor Theory™, a leadership and engagement system used by companies like Nike, Apple, Coca-Cola, Pfizer, and even the U.S. Military to build what Tom calls a Culture of Connection™, where engagement, retention, and productivity thrive.
Since launching his first company in college (which hit $1.5 million in annual sales), Tom has delivered keynotes and training in England, South Korea, Indonesia, Bermuda, and across the entire U.S.
He’s also served on the boards of the NYC Entrepreneurs’ Organization and the National Speakers Association, and—despite that Oprah thing, has numerous media appearances.
His work has been featured on NBC, YouTube (where he as one video with over 18 million views), TEDx, and even the Tofurky box.
Oh, and if you’re wondering: yes, he really was named after a cat. Yes, he lives next to Aaron Rodgers. And yes, he can do 100 pushups in a row, but only if there’s peanut butter at the end.