UPDATE: Winners of Poetry Out Loud at the school level are Nora Donnellan ’17 and Liam McKenna ’16.
January 16, 2013 Photos by Eli Fisher
On Wednesday afternoon, the teaching auditorium was filled by a group of over 20 students reciting poems they had memorized to judges (a group of six teachers) and spectators for the high school’s Poetry Out Loud competition. The first student to recite was Liam McKenna ’16, who advanced to the regional and state Poetry Out Loud competitions and eventually represented New York at the national championship in Washington, D.C. The competition has taken place nationally since 2006.
Judging for Poetry Out Loud is based on the categories of physical presence, voice and articulation, dramatic appropriateness, level of complexity, evidence of understanding, and overall performance.
“Performing is terrifying,” said contestant Lis Barreto ’16. “[I thought that] I could mess up, then it’s getting it right and thinking I messed up.” Despite the pressure of the competition, Barreto said that she “would still do it again.”
Below, listen to McKenna reading his poem, “The Windhover” by Gerard Manley Hopkins.
