The library recently hosted the Poetry Out Loud event on January 10th, 2023. The event, planned by Mx. Shields, required students to memorize two different poems and present them to a panel of judges. The judges included Mr. Nelson and Mrs. Puglia. The students who ended up winning were sophomore Kyla Miller and freshman Erik Pinzon, with Marcela Byra, a senior, as the runner-up.
The schoolwide competition only occurred after there had been previous classwide contests.
The requirements for the “Poetry Out Loud” event were that one poem be from before the twentieth century and that the other poem have fewer than twenty lines. Students were ranked based on their physical presence, voice and articulation, dramatic appropriateness, evidence of understanding, and overall performance.
Miller presented “Here’s an Ocean Tale,” by Kwoya Fagin Maples—a favorite of hers because it explores the bond between siblings—along with “The Arrow and the Song,” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. “My favorite part of the competition was seeing all the other participants and the poems that they chose,” she said.
Other students shared Miller’s passion for the power of poetry. “It was an honor being chosen to perform such wonderful pieces,” Byra added. “Poetry was something I’ve always liked and when we started creating pieces of our own in the class I began to enjoy it even more.” She also mentioned that her favorite part of the event was seeing how everyone else interpreted their poems and supported each other’s presentations.
The two winners moved on to the next stage, the citywide competition on February 6th. Pinzon presented “Ah! Why, Because the Dazzling Sun,” by Emily Bronte for the first round, “The Waking” by Theodore Roethke for the second round, and “I Find No Peace” by Sir Thomas Wyatt for the third round. Meanwhile, Miller presented “The Arrow and the Song” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow for the first round, “Here’s an Ocean Tale” by Kwoya Fagin Maples for the second round, and “Earth, You Have Returned to Me” by Elaine Equi.
Although Pinzon and Miller were not selected to move on to the statewide competition, the judges were impressed by their presentations. “Kyla and Erik did an exceptional job,” Shields remarked. “They were the youngest competitors and were commended by the judges.”
