Poet AJ Tran, 18, is a senior at Northside College Prep.  This is the second year she has represented her school at Louder Than a Bomb, which advanced to the Final round of competition in the 2012 Festival. 

Dear First Grade Teacher is AJ’s poetic commentary on gender, how our society teaches young children what ‘girls’ can do and what ‘boys’ can do, without leaving enough room for those who may think otherwise.

The largest of its kind in the world, Louder Than A Bomb (LTAB) is Chicago’s rapidly-growing teen poetry festival, taking place February 18 - March 10, 2012, at various venues around Chicago. Aiming to bring teens together across racial, gang, and socio-economic lines, LTAB is a friendly competition that emphasizes self-expression and community via poetry, oral story-telling, and hip-hop spoken word.

Click here to hear all the other 2012 recordings, alongside nearly 200 Louder Than a Bomb Finalist pieces recorded by Chicago Public Media (WBEZ-Chicago) over the past eight years.