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Date: 2/3/2022
AGAWAM — For the seventh year, the Poetry Out Loud contest returned to Agawam High School (AHS). On the morning of Jan. 26, 13 students took the stage to recite their poems in front of classmates, teachers and family.
Rachel Patterson, English teacher at AHS, explained that Poetry Out Loud is a national contest that has been around since 2005, “targeting students in developing literacy and practicing public speaking skills.” Additionally, Patterson said the contest introduces students to poetry, and brings them together. Every state participates in this contest.
“It starts on a classroom level,” said Patterson. She explained that all English teachers have the option to partake in this.
This year, Patterson recognized a “handful” of classes that participated, with the majority of those consisting of grade 10 and 12 students.
After the pandemic canceled last year’s contest, Patterson said, “We are happy to have this contest back in person and looking forward to hearing some great poems.”
To qualify for the school-wide competition, students recited works by published poets in class. Their teachers evaluated them, choosing one winner in each class to advance as a finalist.
“Half of the scoring was for accuracy, articulation, dramatic presentation, physical presence, etc.,” Patterson said.
Fourteen finalists were named: Eden Berry, Kaylee Randall, Summer O’Neil, Sean Colfer, Alison Burbank, Jeffrey Szulc, Samantha Leary, Ernest Whitehead, Marissa Bengle, Ethan Danek, Alyssa Drumm, Sophia Gill, Andrew Ichton and Tessa Ebreo, who was absent during the contest. AHS juniors Spencer Page and Kristen Vinciguerra served as masters of ceremonies.
Similar to the classroom competition, the students were scored based on the same rubric. The three poetry judges were Susan Feyre, vice principal, along with Susan Niles and Richard Veres, guidance counselors. In addition, there were two accuracy judges, Vanessa Violette and Sable Johnson, both English teachers.
Prior to the contest, Patterson said all of the judges received a judges packet, a packet of the poems to be read, along with sample contest recitations. She added that the judges and contestants do not talk beforehand, to avoid any bias.
The contest took place during the school day on Jan. 26 in the AHS auditorium. As spectators gathered for the contest, Patterson explained that there would be two rounds of recitation. Though traditionally the first round results in the elimination of some contestants, Patterson announced that because of the number of finalists, all would recite poems in both rounds.
After the scores from both rounds were tabulated, Patterson revealed the winners. Colfer was the winner, followed by Drumm as runner-up and Leary as second runner-up. All students received a certificate for their participation.
Following this competition, Colfer will advance to a regional competition, with the potential to participate in a statewide event and the National Finals in Washington, D.C., in June. In the past, the statewide competition took place in Springfield, but this year, due to the pandemic, it will take place virtually on March 12.
The state winner’s school receives a $500 stipend for the purchase of poetry books. The first runner-up in each state receives $100, with $200 for their school. The national competition distributes a total of $50,000 in awards and school stipends, Patterson said.
Patterson is responsible for bringing this contest to Agawam, after having run the same competition at her previous job in Springfield schools.
Partners of the event include The National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation. Patterson recognized James Blain, principal of AHS, for being “highly supportive of this event.”