W.A. Pattillo School in has been awarded $5,000 from the N.C. Arts Council for Poetry in the Classroom with Mimi Herman.

The funds will be used to provide a week of poetry writing experiences for seven fourth grade classes through the expertise and creativity of Mimi Herman. Students will have the chance to gain self-confidence and view themselves as writers rather than merely consumers of literature. They will learn to use language effectively and creatively to communicate thoughts, feeling and impressions. Students, with the guidance of Mimi Herman, held a Family Night at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 9 to share an evening of poetry, recitation, and writing.

Herman is a writer, editor, teaching artist and consultant. She graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a bachelor’s degree and holds a master’s degree in creative writing from Warren Wilson College.

Herman is the N.C. Poetry Out Loud coordinator and a Teaching Artist Journal associate editor. According to her website, she “does her own carpentry and plumbing and can milk a cow and a goat, though not at the same time.”

She also is an A+ Fellow with the North Carolina A+ Schools Program.

“Students and staff at W.A. Pattillo School are excited about this unique opportunity to further explore the arts,” W.A. Pattillo School Principal Ronda Sortino said. “It is an honor to have received the grant from the N.C. Arts Council and to be able to expose our students to the expertise of Mimi Herman.”

The support of the grants program by the N.C. General Assembly during economically challenging times demonstrates the role the arts play in the economy and quality of life, said Mary B. Regan, executive director of the N.C. Arts Council.

“Nonprofit arts organizations employ workers, stimulate commerce, generate tax revenues and help communities retain their vibrancy,” Regan said.

More than 8.7 million people participated in N.C. Arts Council-funded projects last year in schools, senior centers, museums, concert halls and community centers. Nearly 2.9 million of these were children and youth.

W.A. Pattillo School serves approximately 590 students in fourth through sixth grade.

The N.C. Arts Council awards grant money each year to provide diverse arts experiences.

In fiscal year 2011-12, the Arts Council is expected to distribute $64 million in state and federal grant funds to arts organizations, schools and other nonprofit organizations that sponsor arts programs.