Each month, a classic or contemporary poem is distributed to the Randolph-Macon Academy community. Students with the best responses to the poem win an off-campus lunch. 

The poem is available to the student and adult community on the National English Honor Society pages on rmalife.net.  Faculty and staff are invited to examine the poem and submit responses; adults are welcome to join the monthly luncheon.

Students are invited to explore the poem, then write a brief commentary—no more than seven sentences.  This is not a full analysis of the poem but rather a focus on some significant or interesting aspect(s) of the poem, such as imagery, figurative language, use of sound, etc. Students can also respond with a poem of their own that reflects your understanding of themes or techniques in the poem.

This program encourages students not to believe the idea that they are “not good at English” or that they “don’t understand poems.”  The poems are chosen to be interesting to the students.