Poetry Out Loud is a national arts education program that encourages the study of poetry for high school students by offering free prep materials and a dynamic, fun competition. The goal of this competition is not just to win, but to improve public speaking, build confidence, and learn about poetry. Contestants competing in the National competition had the opportunity to earn a $20,000 award and money for their school. This Poetry Out Loud event first started at Morris Hills in 2017. Even now, it continues to be an opportunity for students to study poetry and highlight those with talent.
The process includes selecting and memorizing a poem (or poems) which you then have to recite to your English class to qualify for the school competition. The winner of the school competition will then move on to regionals, memorizing and reciting two more poems to compete for regionals in hopes of moving on to the state-wide competition. You also have to attend the school meetings to pick your pieces to compete with. Freshman girls Ariel and Leah were the only two who were dedicated and showed up to the meetings, so they ran against each other.
With Mr. Diaz having organized this event, the school-wide competition took place on January 17. Ariel Gorges and Leah Thomas competed against each other. Ariel recited an already-made piece: “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud,” which she interprets to be about daydreaming about a scenic view, and whenever deep in sad thoughts the narrator looks back on the memory and feels happier. Leah performed multiple pieces: “Golden Hour” by Kimberly Casey which is a poem that contemplates loss in the midst of the pandemic. “Here’s an Ocean Tale” by Kwoya Fagin Maples tells the story of a once-safe beach becoming compromised. “Epitaph on the Tombstone of a Child, the Last of Seven that Died Before” by Aphra Behn tragically describes the engraving on the tombstone of a child, speaking about its life and the afterlife.
After Leah and Ariel recited their poems, the winner had to be chosen. Both girls performed well, however, Leah won the school-wide competition. Ariel and Leah were friends, and they were good sports about it, celebrating Leah’s victory together. On February 5, she moved on to regionals where despite her well-spoken poems, she unfortunately didn’t place. Needless to say, both the girls did a great job, and other than the competition, this is also about the experience. Ariel Gorges says, “Reciting the poem was nerve-wracking, but I enjoyed being able to compete in Poetry Out Loud.” The nervousness is normal and all part of the process as Leah similarly said, “Poetry Out Loud was exciting and also a bit scary, since I’m not the greatest public speaker. It was really interesting to read poems and consider what I wanted to perform. Practicing my poems and perfecting how I was going to perform them was enlightening and I was able to see poetry in a new light. I was really nervous for regionals but it turned out to be a really fun experience.”