Lea este articulo en español aquí.
Facing strong competition, Hollister High School student Megan Current won the 10th annual San Benito County Poetry Out Loud Recitation Contest on Feb. 16. She will go to the state contest in Sacramento on March 16 and has the opportunity to read an original poem there.
Poetry Out Loud is sponsored by the San Benito County Arts Council in partnership with the California Arts Council, Hollister High School, Aromas-San Juan Unified School District and the San Benito County Office of Education.
According to the San Benito County Arts Council website, Poetry Out Loud “is part of a national program that encourages high school students to learn about great poetry—both classic and contemporary—through memorization, performance, and competition.”
At the start of the competition, the students shared the reasoning and themes behind the poems they would recite. Current read “Traveling Through the Dark” by William E Stafford and “Dust” by Dorianne Laux.
“I chose these two poems because they are able to capture a lot of complex emotions at once, and I chose the second poem because it depicts a scene, but through its word choice manages to capture something much bigger than what it’s describing,” Current said during the competition.
She fended off strong challenges from Hollister High School students Aditi Dantuluri, Aiyana Bailey, Jasleen Bailey, and Anzar High School student Jaden Romero.
Current won a cash prize of $500, plus $250 to aid with travel costs to Sacramento for the state competition, and the option to submit an original poem there. Dantuluri won $250 with her second-place finish and Romero won $100 with her third-place finish.
Dantuluri recited “We Lived Happily During the War” by Iliya Kaminisky and “I, Too” by Langston Hughes.
Dantuluri said the poetry competition is “a place that allows me to express my passions through poetry. The poems that I picked resonate with my interests. I have a passion for history after the American Civil War, and I chose the two poems because they are about war and society and how people react to war.”
Arts Council Director of Arts Education Amanda Chiado has been in charge of Poetry Out Loud for the last 10 years, and acknowledged the highly talented students who have participated in the competition. San Benito County has placed the state competition’s top 10 for the last three years.
Chiado said Poetry Out Loud “means empowering student voices. Bringing the joy of poetry to the community, celebrating the art of poetry, and bringing the community together through the arts.”
Current, meanwhile, is looking forward to Sacramento.
“I’m really excited!” she said. “I’m excited to go and meet other people who are interested in similar things.”
We need your help. Support local, nonprofit news! BenitoLink is a nonprofit news website that reports on San Benito County. Our team is committed to this community and providing essential, accurate information to our fellow residents. It is expensive to produce local news and community support is what keeps the news flowing. Please consider supporting BenitoLink, San Benito County’s public service, nonprofit news.