Poetry Out Loud

Poetry Out Loud [Its Beginnings – With No End in Sight] 

By Karilea Rilling Jungel

It is not recent, this practice of reciting poetry. We learn it from our parents’ knees; from our first years in school reciting the National Anthem. But how old is poetry, really? If you have a young person in your home, share this little fact with them: Poetry is as old as – gasp – the very first Olympics! There was a day in ancient Greece that poetry and sport went hand in hand at athletic festivals and sportsmanship. Poets sang the praises of the champions, and oftentimes poets competed in their own official events.

“The ancient Greeks very much sought perfection in the body and the intellect – they saw it totally connected.” – Tony Perrottet (2004)

However, poetry’s connection with the Olympic games waned after 1948. Then around some twenty years ago the (age-old) question was going around (again) “Is poetry dead?”

The answer to that question is a resounding “No!” And…writing poetry is not just for girls, either. Boys, whether they admit it or not, enjoy reading and writing poetry. This, I know. I’ve been the recipient of poetry from my grandchildren.

­­Poetry Out Loud

People like Garrison Keillor, [Prairie Home Companion; author of  “Lake Woebegone” and other books] promotes “The Writer’s Almanac” and shares a special poem every day in addition to writing historical insights on people, places and things, and has done so for several years now. Poetry Out Loud has been in existence for only ten years, a national program that is open to high school students, and initiated by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation. As a scholarship program, it encourages young people to learn great poetry through memorization and recitation – embodying the poetry and bringing it once again to life, as the authors had once imagined it might do one day.

There is a specific rubric used by the judges that incorporate six levels from Weak to Outstanding in performance, with emphasis on physical presence, voice and articulation, dramatic appropriateness, level of (the poem’s) complexity, evidence of understanding, and overall performance. These ratings, taken in conjunction with the ratings performed by an accuracy judge combine to give a balanced score and oftentimes, the scores are very close.

Salina South High School 

Three students from Salina South High School competed against one another on January 8. They were Alexcis Barnes, a junior, reciting “A Poison Tree” by William Blake and “Mourning Poem for the Queen of Sunday” by Robert Hayden. Nathan Endreshek, a junior, recited “Invictus” by William Ernest Henley and “Ozymandias” by Percy Bysshe Shelley. Sophomore Shantell Mogollon’s first recitation was Lord Byron’s epic poem “She Walks in Beauty,” and followed it up with “Grief” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Shantell Mogollon is proceeding to Regionals.

Salina South High Students, Salina

Center top: Alexcis Barnes, Jr.

Bottom L-R: Shantelle Mogolloon, Soph., Nathan Endreschek, Jr.

(Photo by K.R. Jungel)

Alexcis Barnes indicated that “I just liked the style of poetry; it was darker and more complex. I’ve been writing poetry since my freshman year. Mrs. (Jody) Eves (Debate/Forensics) suggested that I might want to compete in this since I’m in Debate and Forensics.”

Nathan Endreshek chose his pieces for good reason. “In my AP World History class, I was introduced to this historical period in time, and “Ozymandias” had a lot of meaning to it; even though I am not into free verse. I have also been in some theatrical productions since my freshman year.”

Shantelle Mogolloon explained that her choices were by accident. “I stumbled on these pieces in English class and really liked the comparisons. But ‘Grief’ took on a very personal and dark meaning to me.”

Salina Central High School

Two polished students from Salina Central High School competed just days before the Regional competition. Hannah Janzen chose “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” by William Wordsworth and “Their Bodies” by David Wagoner. Chally Miller picked “Echo” by Christina Georgina Rossetti and “Enough” by Suzanne Buffam. Hannah Janzen is proceeding on to Regionals.

 

Chally Miller, Sophomore, wants to major in Psychiatry, and took time to share with me that she is “In theater and forensics and saw this opportunity as good for me in forensics. To practice, I use my mirror and repeat my poems over and over – especially practicing my enunciation. The moral of my choices deal with feminism and how it is seen in society.”

Salina Central High Students

L-R

Hannah Janzen, Soph., Chally Miller, Soph.

(Photo by K.R. Jungel)

Hannah Janzen, Sophomore, looks forward to being a biochemist major, and began studying forensics just this year. “I love poetry and speaking; public speaking is always important in the world and one can appreciate the beauty of language in their world. It allows me to express myself more eloquently.”

Solomon High School

Four students from Solomon High School took part on December 8, 2014, in their first ever competition for Poetry Out Loud. Kristen Tetters read “All Hallows’ Eve” by Dorothea Tanning; Katie Daily recited “Dirge in Woods” by George Meredith; Alexia Maddy’s choice was “Catch a Little Rhyme: by Eve Marriam and Shaelynn Cross recited “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus.

Solomon High School Students

L-R Kristen Teeters, Soph., Katie Daily, Fr.,

Alexia Maddy, Fr., & Shaelynn Cross, Fr.

(Photo by Mrs. Olga Silverman)

Shaelynn Cross won the right to represent Solomon High School at Regionals. The poems she will deliver on Sunday, February 18, will be “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus, and “The Film” by Kate Northrop.

Shaelynn Cross, Fr., Solomon High School

Shaelynn told me that she “likes memorizing and recitation” and that she had not been introduced to poetry until her freshman year. “I plan on either studying for nursing or teaching, maybe government, because I spent time as a page at the Capitol.”

December through February …

Between December and February for the past ten years, high school classes around the nation have embraced this form of teaching speech, memorization and recitation; first by competition at the high school level and then again at Regionals, all in the hope of a potential scholarship, and sometimes there is a more personal reason.

By March 1, 2015 in Salina Kansas, seven regions will have one student from each region poised for the State competition which will be held at 2:00 p.m. at the Salina Community Theater within the Sunflower Financial Theater.

Judges for the Kansas State Competition include: Wyatt Townley, current Kansas Poet Laureate; Andy Anderson, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Johnson County Community College; Suzanne E. Myers-Ortel, Kansas State Dept. of Education Literary Consultant; and Ruth Moritz, KSU-Salina, Salina Public Library Spring Poetry Series Director.

In the last nine years, the State competition has been held in Lawrence, Kansas. This is the first (and hopefully not last) year that the State finals will be held in Salina. There is no charge to attend. Please be part of the audience!

… Lead to April

Along comes spring and April, known as Poetry month, when the 10^th Annual Poetry Out Loud National Finals will take place on the 28^th and 29^th of 2015, at the Lisner Auditorium, George Washington University in Washington, DC. The winner of the state contest will represent Kansas at the national competition to be held in Washington, D.C., arriving in D.C. on the 27^th.  In addition to receiving an all-expense-paid trip (with an adult chaperone) the winner receives $200. The state winner’s school will receive a $500 stipend for the purchase of poetry books. One runner-up in each state will receive $100; his or her school will receive $200 for the purchase of poetry books.

A total of $50,000 in awards and school stipends will be given at the Poetry Out Loud National Finals, including a $20,000 award for the National Champion.

If you, as a parent, aunt, uncle, grandparent or guardian haven’t been aware of this outlet for your child, please call your school. Students, if you wish to participate, show this to your teacher. Grandparents, if you, as the wise one in your family know of a child, any child, who might benefit from such an experience, well you already know what to do. The gift of poetry and memorization is ours to pass on to others. So do it, pass it on…it’s just that easy. That’s how stories, and poetry, will stay in our and your children’s lives.

Links to view for videos and further information include the following:

http://www.poetryoutloud.org/poems-and-performance/watch-video

https://www.youtube.com/user/poetryoutloudvideos

http://www.poetryoutloud.org/teaching-resources/teacher-preparation

Kansas Regions include:

Region 1 Atchison, Brown, Doniphan, Douglas, Jackson, Jefferson, Leavenworth, Lyon, Marshall, Nemaha, Osage, Pottawatomie, Riley, Shawnee, Wabaunsee.

Region 2  Chase, Clay, Cloud, Dickinson, Ellsworth, Geary, Jewell, Lincoln, Marion, McPherson, Mitchell, Morris, Ottawa, Republic, Saline, Washington.

Region 3 Cheyenne, Decatur, Ellis, Gove, Graham, Logan, Norton, Osborne, Phillips, Rawlins, Rooks, Russell, Sheridan, Sherman, Smith, Thomas, Trego, Wallace

Region 4 Allen, Anderson, Bourbon, Chautauqua, Cherokee, Coffey, Crawford, Elk, Franklin, Greenwood, Labette, Linn, Miami, Montgomery, Neosho, Wilson, Woodson

Region 5  Barber, Barton, Butler, Comanche, Cowley, Edwards, Harper, Harvey, Kingman, Kiowa, Pawnee, Pratt, Reno, Rice, Rush, Sedgwick, Stafford, Sumner

Region 6 Clark, Finney, Ford, Grant, Gray, Greeley, Hamilton, Haskell, Hodgeman, Kearny, Lane, Meade, Morton, Ness, Scott, Seward, Stanton, Stevens, Wichita

Region 7 Johnson, Wyandotte

 

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