Written by Katt Wilkinson|
Interviews by Liz Bradley, Kayla Maloney|
Contributors Mikhela Hull and Santiago Sanchez |
Photos by Michael Baker and Katt Wilkinson |
(click the link to watch video) Eli Phelps, The Morgan School 2013 Poetry Out Loud Winner Performs “A Fit of Rhyme Against Rhyme” by Ben Johnson
(click to watch video)Haley Haggerty, Poetry Out Loud finalist, recites “Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight” by Vachel Lindsay
A four year long tradition for The Morgan School, Poetry Out Loud, stirs up talk in the hallways. We asked some people what they thought about Poetry Out Loud right before the competition. A senior student, Caroline Best, said: “I’m excited to see Ethan; it will be interesting.” She also said: “I’m expecting it to be intense, and don’t forget to breathe.” Another senior student, Meghan Blanusa said that she was excited for Poetry Out Loud: “I’m excited to see Ethan and Cameron as well.” Even one of the judges, Mrs. Kaestle said she loves poetry and poetry is a fantastic thing.
Audience members watching these people perform may believe that they are not nervous one bit, but as the competitors were waiting to recite their poems, we interviewed some of the competitors to see how they were feeling about the competition. Newcomer to Poetry Out Loud, Stacie Candela, said that she was nervous for the bright lights shinning on her, but, way to go, Stacie, you did a great job! Another competitor, Sarah Cockley, said that she was most nervous because of all the classes that came in to watch. Preparing for the competition began in September. Students had to sign up by December. These students prepared for about two and a half to three months. Participants had to work on the tone, emotion, articulation, and memorization; if you decide to participate in the 2014 Poetry Out Loud competition, be prepared to recite two poems.
This year there were twelve participants in Poetry Out Loud: Congratulations to the four finalists:, Ethan Rode, Cameron Engle, Eli Phelps, and Hayley Haggerty! And to the 2013 winner who will perform in the state wide competition that is held at Southern Connecticut University in New Haven: Congratulations to Eli Phelps and to the runner up, Cameron Engle. When asked what made him want to do the competition, Eli said: ” It pulled me out of my comfort zone.” We asked if he was expecting to go this far in the competition and how he felt as the winner. He said: “I was not really expecting to win. I’m really excited, and I’m hoping to come back next year and do the same thing again.” We even had an audience member, Dwight Carmona who was impressed with Eli. He said, “Eli Phelps was the best because he really got into his poem and recited it well.”
Lastly, we want to give thanks to all the people that made this event happen: the competitors for putting on a great show, the judges for taking their time out of the day, the two MC’s, Lenny Paul, and Kim Driscoll, for entertaining us; And most of all thank you Ms. Wickam and Ms. Wickam’s class for organizing this whole day. Also we want to give thanks to, Tyler Ayotte, David Chittendan and Mr. Smith for the lights and music. Great job everyone. This was a very successful day!
Cameron Engle, Poetry Out Loud 2013 Champion runner up
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Ethan Rode, Poetry Out Loud finalist
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For more information on Poetry Out Loud at Morgan see Judy Chicoine’s article: One Line, One Stanza, One Performance.