Fourteen students, seven freshmen and seven seniors, competed in the school wide Poetry Out Loud competition on Feb. 3.
Seniors Leo Ibser and Drishti Singh won, getting the chance to represent LHS at the regional competition. Freshman Rain Obiesie was selected as runner-up.
“I think it’s a cool way to engage with literature, and it’s not often super accessible, especially to get out there and perform,” said Ibser.
Competitors got to choose their own two poems to recite.
“My first one, I thought it was fun because it was just really dreamy,” said Singh. “And we’re graduating this year, so it felt right, because she’s just talking about growing up.”
Most competitors were chosen through voting in each Honors Freshman English and AP Literature and Composition class, with one additional student from English teacher Cameron Reynold’s classes. All students recited their poems in class in a mini version of Poetry Out Loud and voted to nominate a few students for each class.
“The biggest thing we’re looking for is accuracy and then a correct interpretation, so making sure that the recitation accurately reflects, the tone, the meaning, the inflection of the poem,” said English teacher Naomi Kirchner.
Ibser and Singh will submit a video of their recitation for the virtual regional competition.
“And then the people who advance out of the regional go to a state run,” said English teacher Clay Christie. “It’s usually in Salem at Willamette University, or somewhere around there. And if somebody were to win the Oregon State Championship, they go to Washington, DC.”
Poetry Out Loud gives students a chance to explore poetry more than what is offered in the classroom. The panel of judges consisted of English teachers Kirchner, Christie and Emma Haskin.
“It really is like a skill set that we don’t get to see anywhere else, and all of a sudden, somebody that you don’t think would shine in this really does,” said Christie.
It also provides a space for sharing new poems and various interpretations that spark curiosity in both students and teachers.
“Every year I hear a poem in a new way, it’s like, I’ll hear a poem and just be like, ‘I’ve never heard this poem, it’s amazing,’ or ‘I know this poem, but the way the student interpreted it, makes me think of it in a new way,’” said Kirchner.
