On Sunday, March 5, the Trail of the Beats class from Seaside High School will be putting on a poetry slam from 7-9 p.m. at the 10th Muse bookstore in downtown Seaside. It will be a night of poetry and music, as well as an art show, garage sale, and bake sale. All proceeds will benefit the class trip to San Francisco.

Trail of the Beats is a one-term english elective offered this year at the high school. The students involved have been learning about the Beat movement of the early ’50s and some of its main contributers. Most of these contributers were poets and writers like Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlingetti, Gary Snyder, Neal Cassady, and later Ken Kesey and his Merry Pranksters.

Along with reading poetry and excerpts, the class has read two novels of this era. One of these was the classic “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” by the great Ken Kesey. This book describes a man’s struggle to defeat the system in a mental hospital. It really demonstrated some of the principles of non-conformity emphasized by the Beats.

The culmination of the class will be a trip to San Francisco to meet with some of the Beats and to see the sights in the city that is known as the birthplace of the Beat movement. The class will visit with Ken Babbs, tour City Lights Books, and explore the legendary Fisherman’s Wharf.

Mr. Mizell and his Beats class invite everyone to come and experience what is sure to be a magical event. All your support is greatly appreciated.