Poetry Out Loud: Practice Pays Off

By Division I Media & Journalism reporter Jesse

Every year in the beginning of February, Meridian takes part in an event called Poetry Out Loud. It is a national poetry competition for high schoolers, but the whole school does it at Meridian. There are awards, and the person who wins for high school goes on to the semi-final competition in Boston. In Humanities classes, we spent weeks memorizing our poems. We also spent a lot of time putting emphasis, pauses, and other texture into our recitations. We practiced it in class and at home, so when the day finally arrived, we were ready. It was a bit scary, but everyone was amazing.

Learning and reciting a poem was a valuable experience for everyone. As two students, Vilmarie and Zayna, say, it is good to pick a poem that you can relate to or is about something that means a lot to you. Vilmarie said that her favorite part of Poetry Out Loud was listening to everyone’s poems. She also enjoyed getting an Honorable Mention.

There are great parts of Poetry Out Loud, but often there are parts that some people don’t like as much. Zayna’s least favorite part was when she was walking up the aisle, about to do her poem, she felt nervous and stressed. But she felt comfortable while doing the poem. It was a big success and we all got ice cream sandwiches at the end!

Watch videos of all the students here: Division 1; Division 2; Division 3; Division 4