On Tuesday, Jan. 7, nineteen Bethlehem Central High School students participated in the 8th annual Poetry Out Loud competition. While a polar vortex swept in frigid temperatures outside, the vibrant poetry recitations from 9th through 12th-grade students created a warm atmosphere inside the high school.
The students recited two previously published poems and were judged on six categories:
- Physical presence
- Voice and articulation
- Dramatic appropriateness
- Evidence of understanding
- Overall performance
- Accuracy
Each student performed their chosen poems for a panel of four judges; ELA K-12 Supervisor, Daniel Hash, ELA teachers Elizabeth Edgar and Joe Boyle, and Library Media Specialist Justine Nigro. ELA teacher and Poetry Out Loud Coordinator Andrew Rickert served as the emcee.
Five students advanced to the second round of the competition: Jude MacLaughlin (10), Keiran McNay (11), Laurel Muench (11), Annabel Rose (9), and Eleanor Rose (11). After the second round of competition, judges selected a winner and a runner-up to represent BC at the Regional competition next month.
- Winner: Laurel Muench
- Honorable Mention: Keiran McNay
The Poetry Out Loud Regional will be held at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy on Friday, Jan. 31 at 6 p.m. The top contestants from the Regional will be selected to perform at the NYS Poetry Out Loud competition in New York City in March.
“I was extremely impressed by the talent on display. While the competition traditionally attracts the dramatically inclined students, what I love the most is when quieter students who you might not normally expect to have the aptitude for expressive recitation step up to the mic and completely transform into vehicles for the written word,” said Bethlehem Central High School ELA Teacher and Poetry Out Loud coordinator, Andrew Rickert.
The following is a list of contestants and the poems they competed with:
Round 1
Zayden Cartagena (11) “Recess” by Maria Hummel
Miriam Cole (10) “After the Winter” by Claude McKay
Isabella DiMura (12)“It Was Not Death, for I stood up, (355)” by Emily Dickinson
Malia Fiorita (10) “Be Music, Night” by Kenneth Patchen
Sheamus Healey (10) “300 Goats” by Naomi Shihab Nye
Ian Jin (12) “Recess” by Maria Humel
Bhavyasree Kakarala (11) “The Bookshelf of the God of Infinite Space” by Jeffrey Skinner
Anika Kalam (12) “In a London Drawingroom” by George Eliot
Molly Kaplan (9) “Caged Bird” by Maya Angelou
Jude MacLaughlin (10) “Self-Portrait with Sylvia Plath’s Braid” by Diane Seuss
Mallory Maycrink (10) “Oranges” by Roisin Kelly
Keiran McNay (11) “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost
Laurel Muench (11) “Flowers” by Cynthia Zarin
Angelina Pidgeon (10) “The Last Performance” by Thomas Hardy
Annabel Rose (9) “Blade, Unplugged” by Tim Seibles
Eleanor Rose (11) “Siren Song” by Margaret Atwood
Juniper Seagle (10) “We Used Our Words We Used What We Had” by Franny Choi
Xrysanthi Sokaris (11) “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke
Rebecca Tuckman (10) “Siren Song” by Margaret Atwood
Round 2
Jude MacLaughlin (10) “Since There is no Escape” by Sara Teasdale
Keiran McNay (11) “Harold and the Purple Crayon” by D. Gilson
Laurel Muench (11) “The Universe as Primal Scream” by Tracy K. Smith
Annabel Rose (9) “Wife’s Disaster Manual” by Deborah Paredez
Eleanor Rose (11) “A Poison Tree” by William Blake
Good luck to Lauren and Keiran at Regionals!