Photo Courtesy of English teacher Laurie Decker

The San Luis Obispo High School Poetry Out Loud school-wide competition for this year was held in the SLOHS Library on Wednesday, February 2.

“Once again, English teachers Kari Smith and Laurie Decker have kept this tradition alive by running the event,” said English teacher Scott Nairne.

Poetry Out Loud is an recitation contest that has been a tradition for over a decade. Each participant recited two poems from memory, one poem under 25 lines, and one longer poem over 25 lines. All poems of course came from the Poetry Out Loud anthology.

Participants included sophomores Camilo Baltodano, Charlotte (Charley) Beck, Siena Boscaro, Mattea Gallon, Tea Kalpakoff, Karl Karsh, Alma Tinoco, and freshman Aria Olsen.

Sophomore Charley Beck was our first runner-up, and freshman Aria Olsen is the SLOHS overall Champion. 

Aria recited “Truth is I would like to escape myself,” by Nour Al Ghrawoi, and “Becoming a Redwood,” by Kana Gioia. 

Aria will now advance to the SLO county competition run by SLO County Arts. (This year’s county competition will be virtual.)