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Date: 2/8/2023
AGAWAM — For the ninth year, a select group of Agawam High School students stepped up to a microphone to recite classic and contemporary poems they had memorized line by line and word for word.
And they did it on stage in front of classmates, friends, family, teachers and administrators as part of a national performance competition for high schoolers called Poetry Out Loud. Students recited works they had selected from an anthology of more than 900 classic and contemporary poems.
Judges evaluated students on criteria that included voice and articulation, evidence of understanding and accuracy. The competition — which began in December in classrooms — uses a pyramid structure. From a group of 308 students, including ninth through 12th graders, 21 contestants advanced to the school-wide contest on the morning of Jan. 26. This was the largest group of students to participate in the competition since it began at the school in 2013.
“We had four teachers who hadn’t done the contest before who decided to give it a go in their classrooms, so that helped increase participation,” said English teacher Rachel Patterson, who coordinates the competition. “Maybe, too, there’s still a sense of wanting to return to in-person, live, interesting activities after missing so much of that during COVID[-19].”
Each contestant recited a poem in the first round of competition; following judging, 10 finalists were brought back to recite a different poem in round 2.
“This is very difficult, but our students tackle it in many different ways. They write poems on notecards, record themselves and rehearse with their teachers, families and friends,” said Patterson. “Beyond memorization, though, it’s even more difficult to try and communicate it smoothly, with meaning and emotion.”
Patterson added that beyond making a connection with literature, the contestants have to master the skill of performance.
“To get up in front of peers and judges and convincingly deliver a memorized poem is hard for anyone of any age,” she said. “But it can help build their confidence with public speaking.”
This year’s winner is sophomore Abigail Drumm, who recited “I Am the People, the Mob” by Carl Sandburg. Zahide Cure, a senior, is the runner-up, and recited “Invisible Children” by Mariana Llanos. She will represent Agawam in the regional competition if Drumm is unable to attend.
“I’m so excited that I won this year’s contest,” said Drumm following the competition. “I was honestly shocked when I heard my name called. I was proud of my performance, but I didn’t believe I was going to win.”
She added that she believed all her fellow students “brought their A-game” to the competition.
“I was intimidated by the amount of talent on the stage. Everyone brought their own unique interpretation and style, and I was extremely impressed,” she said.
Before the beginning of this year, Drumm said that she didn’t enjoy poetry. She thought it would be easier to tell a story as a narrative rather than as a poem.
“Now that I’ve done this contest, I realize the beauty of poetry and have found a new appreciation of a different form of art,” she explained. This was her first time participating in the contest.
Between recitations and analysis, trying to get underneath the surface meaning of the words, Drumm spent three to four hours each day working on her two poems. Once she had a basic understanding of the poem, she focused on learning the words.
“Then I added any artistic pauses, changes in pitch, or any other stylistic choices as I went. I found that associating emotion and action with the words helped me learn them faster and have a deeper connection to both of the works,” she said.
Cure said she was “overjoyed” when her name was announced as runner-up.
“The nights of practicing over and over again all seemed worth it,” she said. “I was proud of myself — I felt like if I could do this, then I could do anything.”
She said all the contestants were judged fairly and she isn’t disappointed about not winning first place.
“I think Abigail did a phenomenal job on her poems,” she said. “Also, my goal when I decided to partake in the contest was never really about winning first place. I wanted to execute my poem to the best of my ability and have the crowd feel the emotions I was feeling.”
Like Drumm, this was Cure’s first year in the contest. She loves listening to other people recite poems and thought it would be fun to do, because she thinks poetry is such a beautiful language that conveys multiple emotions: “I loved the idea of being able to use my voice to enact a specific emotion in the poems.”
Cure used multiple methods to study her poems, primarily standing in front of her mirror and repeating the words to herself over and over again.
“The mirror also helped me practice what motion I wanted to use in specific parts of my poem, and what expression I wanted on my face,” she said. “My mom was also a huge factor in helping me practice.”
The other 19 contestants included Maddie Balzano, Sam Beckwith, Eden Berry, Dominic Chen, Sean Colfer, Andrew Croteau, Ethan Danek, Madeline Ewell, Kaylee Hernandez, Marissa Leary, Hazel Meyer, Logan Nunez, Victoria Okyere, Abigail Pazgan, Angie Privedenyuk, Kaylee Randall, Jeffrey Szulc, Aiden Wykes and Alexis Wozniak.
In addition to the contestants, four seniors — Melina Ichton, Spencer Page, Madison Pajak and Kristen Vinciguerra — served as masters of ceremonies, introducing contestants and offering humor when talking about poets and their poems.
Drumm will compete at the regional level in a March 5 recital in Springfield. Winners of that contest advance to the March 12 state competition in Boston for a chance to compete in the national finals in late April in Washington, DC.