Poetry Out Loud is a national poetry recitation contest sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation. The contest begins in individual classrooms, and goes from there to a school-wide competition before moving on to regional, state, and finally the nationals in Washington, DC.

Having finished work at the classroom level, we were ready last night to hear from the best in the school: Isaac Simes, Ethan Pfenninger, So Hee Park, Salamarie Frazier, Lucy Copeland, Adam Sapers, Charlie Poulin, Wes Mitchell-Lewis, Mary Jo Germanos, Hyun Jung Chung, Julia Capron, Emily Starer, and Sarah Sussman.

With an audience including trustees, students, parents, faculty, and a representative from the NH chapter of Poetry Out Loud, we were treated to some great performances, spanning a wide range, from Robert Bly (who's been on our stage) to Shakespeare, Kipling to Maya Angelou. At the conclusion, we crowned our winner and runner up: Salamarie Frazier and Charlie Poulin.

Thanks to everyone who made the evening possible, including the English department, Nick Cushing on piano, our judges (Ms. Pedrin-Nielson, Mr. Nicolay, Mr. and Mrs. Furlonge, and Ms. Brewer), and scorer (Mr. Flinders).

Download the program.