The Office of Multicultural Arts Initiatives (OMAI) sponsors an annual Teen Poetry Slam Contest. Founded in 2005, OMAI is a unit of the Office of the Vice Provost for Diversity and Climate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. OMAI provides culturally relevant and transformative arts programming to promote positive social dialogue and to give cultural art forms a legitimate academic forum. Messmer was represented by Senior Denzel Taylor at this year's Slam Contest, and after winning locally, was one of 6 from the state to win a spot in the national contest this summer. The competition, entitled "Brave New Voices" takes place in California in July. Denzel's original poems "99 in Greater Than 1" and "Virus" catapulted him to the top of his game, and won him a ticket to the Bay Area. Messmer's Spoken Word Club is led by Theology Teacher Mr. Jason Gonzalez with the help of Spanish Teacher Ms. Jamie Kramer. Denzel feels Mr. Gonzalez is very encouraging, gives great advice, and doesn't sugar coat anything. He says, "I couldn't have won without him."
