The small group of students at East Aurora High School saw past her name. It wasn’t about her status, her influence or her fame.
Rather, they saw Helen A Rich – the CEO of a publishing house and member of the famous Wrigley family – as a friend. A teacher. A mentor.
Rich returned to Chicago on Tuesday to help the group of students along as they prepare to be the first-ever group from Aurora to compete in Louder Than a Bomb, the world’s largest poetry slam for teens.
“You’re all so in touch with who you are,” Rich said, pausing as she looked at the group of five circled around her in the small classroom. “And you have such an ability to express it.”
Rich helped the students hone that ability. As an award-winning author, poet and CEO of Medallion Press, she intently lent an ear to the aspiring poets, injecting short life lessons along the way.
If anyone, Rich knows. It took more than a household last name to get her to the point to where she is today.
Rich told students of her own life struggles, how she overcame them and even recounted stories on how she worked less-than-glamorous, odd-end jobs just so she could write for a living.
Students seemed to take notice. Especially Yolanda, a senior at East.
After receiving feedback on one of her poems from Rich and others, Yolanda delivered another performance from one of her poems.
“What do you see when you look at me? I’m not a book, so no you can’t read me,” she said firmly, as volunteers, the mayor of Aurora and a state representative listened in. “You’re like a satellite, you only get an outside look at me. … do you see me happy, full of possibilities? A young girl, short, with big dreams. What is it, huh? What do you see when you look at me?”
Rich saw potential in Yolanda and the other students. So much so that Rich said that if students stuck with it, Medallion Press would publish an anthology of their work.
“Boy we have some talent in this room,” Rich said.
To track the students’ progress, check triplethreat.org