Emotional Intelligence – Tahj Kjelland reaches at-risk teens through poetry, hip-hop and a statewide Montana program that combines the two

A dozen teenagers mill around a Willard School classroom, their desultory conversations drifting about like falling leaves. Large sheets of fabric printed with colorful peace-sign patterns cover the windows, filtering the autumn sunlight. Once the kids are settled into their seats, Tahj Kjelland gets a beat thumping through his Macbook speakers. He starts rapping, going from zero to full flow in under a second, freestyling about the environment around him, his clothes, the teacher’s dachshund–whatever pops into his restless mind. Animated and intense, he has captured the kids’ attention. They cannot look away.

He sprinkles in a few key phrases like "neurons that fire together wire together" and "emotional intelligence–I break it down with relevance." Once he’s sure the class room is galvanized, he stops on a dime and says, "Okay, everybody take out a piece of paper."

The Express to Speak program http://www.humanitiesmontana.org/programs/mtconversations/speakers/cat_kjelland_expresstospeak.php?cat=sb and https://www.facebook.com/pages/Express-To-Speak/544901178870222 is officially underway.

By Ednor Therriault

Full Story: http://missoulanews.bigskypress.com/missoula/emotional-intelligence/Content?oid=2093274