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For years the students of NS have competed in the national Poetry Out Loud competition, and this year is no different. Thirteen students chose two poems to memorize and perform for the school competition.
Freshman Lucy Quinn and her brother, Simon Quinn were two of the thirteen competitors. After the performances Lucy Quinn was declared the winner with Simon Quinn as the runner up.
The first place and runner up of the school’s competition get to go to region. The first place winner chooses two poems and performs them competitively. The runner up will participate in a showcase competition.
“Knowing that I beat him was hilarious, and awesome, and fun.” Lucy Quinn said. “I’m definitely going to hold that against him.”
“I’d rather not think about it because she’s going to hold it over my head as a freshman beating a senior.” Simon Quinn said. “It’s kind of like when you get stabbed in the back and you just know you’re going to be sore for a long time. But I’m happy she won because she took it more seriously and I think she wanted to win more. She deserves it.”
Lucy Quinn chose “Cartoon Physics Part 1” by Nick Flynn and “Famous” by Naomi Shihab.
“I chose [Cartoon Physics] because it was creative and more colorful and fun whereas Famous was more of a serious, emotional poem.” Lucy Quinn said. “The performance was both terrifying and somewhat thrilling.”
Simon Quinn chose “Nude Descending a Staircase” by X J Kennedy and “Invictus” by William Ernest Henley.
“I chose the first one because I thought it would be funny to do it in a certain way because originally it’s about a painting and it’s supposed to be serious, but I took it out of the perspective of like a 14 year old and how he would act if he saw a naked lady. The second one I chose because it was really serious and it had a good meaning to it, and I just thought it was a really good poem.”
Kaylene Johnson, advisor over Poetry Out Loud at NS, has been helping the students improve their performances by working on their physical appearance as well as their expression.
“It gives students the opportunity to be exposed to an archive of some of the best classical and contemporary poems,” Johnson said. “It teaches them, first of all, how to speak in front of a group. Just hearing your own voice and then trying to get it right; telling the story that the poem is trying to tell is a great skill,” Johnson said.
Sophomore Ashley St. Jacques, one of the students that competed, has always enjoyed poetry and hopes to use this opportunity to practice communicating with other people.
“I want to learn how to express myself more clearly and see other people perform and express themselves,” St. Jacques said. “For me personally, I like to get into people’s faces and if I’m mad then they’re mad. You use your vocal chords to set a tone for the poem.”
Poetry is a form of creativity. Doing Poetry Out Loud is an opportunity to see others express themselves and then try and come up with your own personal version. It motivates them to do better and express themselves more.
Besides expressing themselves, Poetry Out Loud teaches students basic communication, presentation, and social skills.
“The most important thing the students learn from doing Poetry Out Loud is memorization,” Johnson said.
Memorizing definitions for a class and memorizing a poem are two completely different things. When you’re memorizing a poem you are understanding what the poet had to say while interpreting it to fit your own style. Then you get to share that story with everybody else.
