Over 30 students recited memorized poems of their choice while competing in the Poetry Out Loud semi finals in the Black Box Theater on January 15.

English teacher Seth Czarnecki commented, “I have been a part of Poetry Out Loud for five years and this year was easily the most competitive.”

Some students have been participating in Poetry Out Loud for their whole high school career.

“I’ve been doing it for four years,” said senior Nargiz Rajai. “It forces me to do something that I would never usually do, like putting myself in front of a large crowd.”

Rajai recited “Testimonial” by Rita Dove.

All grades can take part in the competition. Freshmen and sophomores compete in their English classes while seniors and juniors had to audition to make it to the semi-finals.

Junior Evangelos Baltas, who recited “The Charge of the Light Brigade” by Alfred Lord Tennyson, decided to try out even though it wasn’t a part of his English class.

“I made it to the finals last year, so I wanted to try to make it to first this year,” Baltas said.

Eight students of all grades were picked to be in the finals, including freshmen Cristina DiMare and Kara Hadden; sophomores Noah Brazer, Ashley Costello, and Marcus Ellis; junior Evangelos Baltas; and seniors Anushka Dasgupta and Nargiz Rajai.

“During the finals the students are scored on factors such as their physical presence, how difficult the poem is and their understanding of the poem,” Czarnecki said.

The finals will be held on February 3 during period six and contestants will recite two poems. The winner of the school finals will advance to the state-level of competition.