{"id":4142,"date":"2024-11-26T09:29:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-26T14:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/?p=4142"},"modified":"2024-11-26T09:29:00","modified_gmt":"2024-11-26T14:29:00","slug":"river-hills-2nd-poetry-out-loud-competition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/river-hills-2nd-poetry-out-loud-competition\/","title":{"rendered":"River Hill\u2019s 2nd Poetry Out Loud Competition"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Shivali Shah, Digital Editor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Poetry Out Loud competition is a cherished and highly anticipated tradition across the country, offering students the opportunity to explore literature and performance. At River Hill, 10th grade English classes are hosting their own competitions within the classroom, where students learn to connect with poetry on a deeper level and perform pieces in front of their peers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mrs. Schultz, one of the English teachers who helped organize the competitions explains that \u201cit starts in the classroom. We English teachers, Curry and I, set out an announcement to all the English teachers to see who was interested and who was able to participate. The English teachers who chose to participate held classroom competitions and once we have a classroom winner, we then go to the school-wide competition which is happening on Dec 13th. [When a student] wins the school competition, they can go to regionals and if they get through regionals, they can get to states.\u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To prepare for the class-based competition, students first had to choose a poem that resonated with them personally\u2014one that connected with their own experiences or feelings.  Sophomore Lily Farnham, winner of Mrs. Schultz\u2019s 3rd<\/sup> period competition, chose the poem From the Sky<\/em> by Sara Abou Rashed. \u201cThe poem was written by a Palestinian-American and I knew that I wanted to focus on the Middle East because I am Middle Eastern,\u201d Lily explains. \u201cIt really stood out to me because it was focused on an era of time where social-reform and speaking out was very important for those of us who are from the Middle East. It was just something that really connected with me.\u201dLily\u2019s process of selecting a poem was similar to that of Sophomore Penny Tofigh, winner of Mrs. Schultz\u2019s 6th<\/sup> period competition, who \u201cstarted with looking at poets that [she] really liked. And if something looked interesting [she] would click on it.\u201d The one poem that truly stood out to her was Meanwhile<\/em> by Richard Siken. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After choosing a poem, students began their extensive preparations for the competition, working on memorization, doing research and refining their delivery. As Lily shared, \u201cI really wanted to focus on being able to express my emotions through the words, so I made sure to go through it. I tried to think of it like \u2018How would I feel right now if I was in the Middle East facing these struggles?\u2019 It was mainly just focusing on portraying the emotions through the words but also understanding where it was coming from and knowing the struggles that inspired it.\u201d Similarly, to enhance her performance, Penny focused on how to physically convey her message, \u201cI marked on my paper where I wanted to pitch my voice up ro where I wanted to get louder or where I wanted to do certain arm movements.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the path to the competition was not without its obstacles. For Lily, the simplicity of her chosen poem made it difficult at first to convey the emotions she wanted. \u201cThe fact that I had chosen a shorter poem definitely made it a bit more difficult for me to express my emotions because I was trying to figure out how to weave all these different intonations or maybe use hand-gestures,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was initially a bit difficult for me [to understand], but I started to understand [the meaning] more as I looked through it and practiced it.\u201d Participants also faced the pressure of nerves and a demanding schedule while preparing for their competitions. As Penny describes, \u201cDuring the competition, my voice was shaking and I felt like I couldn\u2019t breathe,\u201d she recalled. \u201cAlso time [to rehearse] was an issue because I\u2019m in Driver\u2019s Ed right now and I have a lot of school work, so finding time to get that practice in was hard.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the competitions approached, participants experienced a mix of emotions. Some felt confident, while others wrestled with nerves. Lily expressed, \u201cI\u2019ve done a fair amount of public speaking in the past, so I wasn\u2019t extremely nervous, but I also just had to remind myself that\u2014like before any audition, tryout, or public speaking\u2014you have to trust yourself. You\u2019ve practiced and prepared for this, so just take a deep breath and do what you know.\u201d In contrast, Penny felt \u201creally nervous leading up to the competition. There was the initial time where everybody read their poem but the three people who did the best ended up having to perform again. The last competition was super nerve-wracking because it was up to a popular vote.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The students\u2019 initial performances were graded based on the official Poetry Out Loud rubric which scores based on \u201cvoice articulation, movement, interpretation, evidence that they understand the poem and then the overall performance aspect,\u201d Mrs. Schultz explained. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the competition unfolded, the student’s experiences reflected the goals that Ms. Schuktz had in mind when assigning the competition, \u201cI want them to gain an appreciation for the written word. For poetry, it\u2019s a condensed language and it really can be beautifully presented,\u201d she shared. \u201cIt\u2019s an opportunity for them to hone down on what words matter and what words mean.\u201d Additionally, Mrs. Schultz views Poetry Out Loud as a way to prepare students for challenges beyond the classroom. \u201cIt\u2019s useful because there will be places in their careers and lives where they have to stand in front of a group of people. And they\u2019ll have to make an argument or present something, this gives them the opportunity to really think about what the poem is. In the real world, in their future jobs, in their future endeavors, they will have to speak out and be present in the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For many participants, Poetry Out Loud has become more than just an assignment\u2013it\u2019s an opportunity to use their voice to do something greater. Lily, reflecting on how deeply the poem resonated with her, shares that \u201cIt was nice to speak out, even though it was indirectly, on a number of issues that are going on in the Middle East, whether that be the Israel-Palestine conflict, or what I know is going on in Iran. It was nice to speak through a poem that was written by someone who is from a cultural background similar to mine.\u201d With hopes of reaching county or state levels, this year\u2019s Poetry Out Loud event highlights how River Hill students continue to use poetry as an outlet for self-expression and advocacy, connecting speaking out with the challenges of our time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Shivali Shah, Digital Editor The Poetry Out Loud competition is a cherished and highly anticipated tradition across the country, offering students the opportunity to explore literature and performance. At River Hill, 10th grade English classes are hosting their own competitions within the classroom, where students learn to connect with poetry on a deeper level…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":4144,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[136,280,286,281,434,625,863,1069,269,211,285],"class_list":["post-4142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature","category-news","tag-competition","tag-feature","tag-journalism","tag-news","tag-poem","tag-poetry","tag-poetry-out-loud","tag-recitation","tag-rhhs","tag-river-hill","tag-river-hill-high-school"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/unnamed-29.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4142"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4142\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4145,"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4142\/revisions\/4145"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}