Poetry Live is proud of the milestones it reaches in its mission to use poetry to connect people, live online. June 2002 -- New York Life Foundation to Support Two New York City Public Schools in Online Poetry Program The New York Life Foundation, in conjunction with New Visions for Public Schools, has awarded a Tech Power grant to two New York City public schools to participate in the PoetryLive curriculum. Bread and Roses Integrated Arts High School and the Academy of American Studies will join other students from around the globe in writing, reading and reviewing poetry live online. The students will also interact online with accomplished professional poets. New York Life Tech Power is a competitive grant program to help both children and their teachers become active users of new media. This program provides participating schools with the opportunity to create customized, exciting projects that require students to use technology skills to support the curriculum and instructional strategies currently used in the classroom. The Poetry Live curriculum and platform will be customized by teachers and students at each of the high schools to reflect their interests, professional development goals, and local curricula. The theme of their Poetry Live program will be "What is an American? The Poetry of Person and Place". May 2002 -- Poetry Live Announces Launch of Unique Standards-Based Curriculum for Middle and High School Students After several successful pilot programs with students, teachers and poets from across the nation, Poetry Live announced the availability of the Poetry Live platform and curriculum. Poetry Live is a standards-based program that uses poetry as a language with which to explore social issues and the humanities. The program employs web-based distance learning technologies to bridge geographic barriers. The program was developed through a partnership with Columbia University Teachers College Institute for Learning Technologies, and the Academy of American Poets. Poetry Live is unique in that participating students interact live online with expert poets and with other students across the country, and around the globe. The live interaction includes actual online voice discussion and a wide variety of stimulating and exciting collaborative activities.