CINCINNATUS, N.Y. -- An intense 45 minutes with Carlos Andres Gomez. Motivational. Inspirational. The crowd says all the above.

"He keeps kids focused on the show and makes it interesting so you don't zone out," said student Dan Tomlinson.

"He's brilliant; he's good with words," Jherrett Maroney said, "He had me. I was sitting in the back and he's captivating, he's real good."

Gomez is a two time National Poetry Slam finalist. He's acted alongside Denzel Washington and Jodi Foster. But his message he shares throughout the world comes from his experience as a social worker and teacher in New York City.

"I think the central thing, it sounds kind of corny and it's real simple but it's you're always enough so always be the person. I believe in this idea of a majority of one, you know what I mean? You can do something," said Gomez.

The desire to bring Gomez to Cincinnatus started in February when a few students read about the entertainer in Brass Magazine. The inspired teens sent an email to the poet.

"To see these young high school students taking it upon themselves to go for something and to initiate something, I think that's a great model for other young people and for everybody," Gomez said.

Gomez says he's inspired how the students spent ten months raising nearly $5,000 for the event.

"Knocking on people's doorsteps and giving them invitations and asking if we could get some help pulling it together," said student Jake Latta.

They certainly pulled it together and the students say they hope they can bring Gomez back for some more inspiration.