Five students performed in the school finals of Poetry Out Loud, a poetry recitation competition requiring memorization and personality.
Students and staff gathered in the auditorium to watch sophomores Sedra Alani, Jasmine Palit and Julia D’Aprile and seniors Rushil Singh and Karma Bebawy recite two poems. As the winner of the finals, Bebawy will move on to the state semifinals in March. Bebawy feels that participating in Poetry Out Loud since her sophomore year helped her to claim victory this year.
“I went out and gave it my best, and I’m glad I did,” Bebawy said. “I guess third time’s the charm.”
Despite the stress of performing, Bebawy continued to come back to Poetry Out Loud because of the joy it brings her.
“It’s fun,” Bebawy said. “It’s interesting and fun to perform even though it’s nerve-wracking.”
Runner-up D’Aprile had spent a large portion of time preparing for the event.
“I would say my first poem took me a week and my second [poem] took me four days to learn,” D’Aprile said.
The poems shared ranged in commentary and style from “Invisible Children” by Mariana Llanos and recited by Singh to “Recess” by Maria Hummel. While the former is a social commentary on mistreated children, the latter is about the importance and passage of time.
“I think [“Invisible Children”] contains important messages about the neglected children and hidden tragedies in the world that need more attention called to them,” Singh said.
Overall, Poetry Out Loud was a celebration of both student talents and the beauty and relevance of poetry.
“I think the point of poetry is often to express things that are hard to express,” Poetry Out Loud organizer and English teacher Lauren Frantz said. “Poetry brings a deeper understanding of human experience and that is what makes it better and more beautiful for everybody.”