Many students participated in Poetry Out Loud this year, all of them performing very well. Photo courtesy of yearbook advisor Ryan Mammarella.
Every year, San Luis Obispo High School and many other schools across the country host a Poetry Out Loud (POL) competition at their school. POL is a national competition that requires students to memorize and perform two poems selected from the official website in front of a panel of judges.
Last Thursday, SLOHS held their annual POL competition and had a total of 22 students compete. While all students performed well, the ultimate winner of the competition was sophomore Ethan Diesta.
Other honorable mentions include junior Bob Meyers (runner-up), senior Anika Miltner (tied for third place), sophomore Taylor Wakemen (tied for third place), and freshman Naomi James (fourth place).
“I was sitting in my seat in theater, and Mr. Stewart was announcing the first place winner, and I was thinking, ‘I’m going to be so happy if I win this,’ but also, ‘I’m not going to be surprised if I lose this,’ because in all honesty, I feel like a lot of like other contestants did really well compared to me. Nevertheless, I’m still happy that I won, and I remember standing up and walking to the stage with just this childish grin on my face. I was so happy,” said Diesta.
Diesta will move onto the county competition and perform at the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art on February 8. If he wins there, he will move onto the state competition.
In order to prepare students for this event, English classes across all grade levels feature a poetry unit early in the year to get students comfortable with the idea of reciting poetry.
For students who like poetry or are interested in public speaking and performing, POL is the competition to explore these interests.
“It’s a great experience, because it introduces you to poetry and poems that you’ve never heard before, and you get to analyze poetry, which is always a wonderful thing,” said POL participant sophomore Lydia Steckling.
While some students choose poems from previous years that they’ve already memorized or randomly pick a poem on a whim, some students choose poems that deeply resonate with them. Choosing poems that have a particular significance to them can be powerful at times, the student being able to express deeper emotions with their verses.
“In English class, we were watching past year’s winners at the national level, and a few years ago, a girl had won with [‘The World is About to End and My Grandparents Are in Love’], and I just really liked it. I felt like it was relatable to today, so I could really connect with it and perform it well [so I chose it as my first poem]. For my second poem, ‘Mansplaining’, I just wanted a feminist power poem. I know my mom has really struggled with some overbearing men, so it was kind of something I could relate to, and it was just a really powerful poem that I liked,” said Steckling.
POL is a great opportunity to expand on skills students already have to benefit them in the future.
“Even if you don’t like speaking publicly, I think it’s a good skill to have, because later on in life, you’re gonna have jobs and you’re gonna have just situations where you’re gonna need to talk to people. If you’re too shy or timid to actually speak to people about whatever situation you’re in, you’re not going to fare well,” said Diesta.
Congratulations to all of this year’s participants and those who placed! Expressions encourages students to sign up next year, it’ll be a fun experience!
