Seniors Chase Cassidy and Yaheli Cruz represented Monroe-Woodbury on February 25 in the annual Poetry Out Loud Regional Competition for the Northern Hudson Valley, located at SUNY New Paltz.
“Moving on to regionals this time is a wonderful thing. Since this is my senior year, to be able to go to regionals again is a way for me to go out with a bang as this is the last year I can participate. I hope that with the experience I have with Poetry Out Loud that I will be able to do better this year than I have before,” said Cruz in an email prior to the competition.
The Poetry Out Loud Association is a partnership between the National Endowment of the Arts, the Poetry Foundation, and state and jurisdictional arts agencies. The competition starts in English classrooms in every U.S. state, territory, and the District of Columbia, where students recite a poem from the approved Poetry Out Loud list. Two students from each teacher’s set of classes go on to participate in a school-wide competition.
Cassidy and Cruz competed against six other participants from Cornwall High School, New Paltz High School, Roy C. Ketcham High School, and Rhinebeck High School. Students recited one poem per round, with three poems in total. Since there were only eight competitors total, everyone moved on to the third round, which dictated who would represent the region in the State competition.
Monroe-Woodbury’s Cruz won the regional competition, alongside a student from Cornwall High School. Both will now advance to the New York State Competition on March 15 at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City.
“I do Poetry Out Loud because it is a very good outlet to be able to share the beauty of poetry with others. Being able to not only share, but to be able to hear other people’s interpretation of the beauty they find in their own poems as well,” said Cruz in an email interview.
Poetry Out Loud competitions are held at a school level, a regional level, a state level, and a national level. The top two finalists from the school competition will move on to the regional competition, and so on, until 54 students compete for the 1st place national title. In the school-wide competition, speakers recited two poems each over the course of two rounds.
After the final bell on January 8, the school-wide competition at Monroe-Woodbury began. The judges and eight competitors filed into the room. Many students appeared stressed–but still friendly and talkative.
Mrs. Rosenfeld, the Monroe-Woodbury Poetry Out Loud adviser, paid tribute in a speech to Poetry Out Loud’s 20th competition year and the 9th year of participation at Monroe-Woodbury. She gave a special shout-out to Cruz, a repeat competitor who had previously made it all the way to the regional competition, only one of three Monroe-Woodbury students to do so at the time.
Ms. Marino, Mr. Gardner, and Mr. Hodges acted as judges. Mr. Filie, a retired Monroe-Woodbury teacher, was the accuracy judge, and Ms. Baird acted as prompter, supporting the performers if they forgot a line in their poem. Round one began with Anya Malhotra, then the other participants:
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- Anya Malhotra – Senior
- I am the People, the Mob by Carl Sandburg
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- Emily Roy – Senior
- I am trying to break your heart by Kevin Young
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- Chase Cassidy – Senior
- The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
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- Justin Lemons – Freshman
- I felt a Funeral, in my Brain, (340) by Emily Dickinson
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- Jillian Calub – Senior
- Meanwhile by Richard Siken
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- Yaheli Cruz – Senior
- We Are Not Responsible by Harryette Mullen
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- Nicole Ottavio – Senior
- Poem Toward People by Ariel Yelen
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- Mckayla Kim – Senior
- Constancy to an Ideal Object by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Students then prepared their next poems during the 15-minute intermission as Mrs. Rosenfeld tallied the round one scores. The competitors spread out across C floor, practicing their poem in small groups, reciting to themselves, or just pretending like they didn’t have a poem to recite soon. Either way, everyone was friendly and interactive to each other. Judges talked to their past, current and future students about how they were feeling.
“Being the only freshmen, I thought everyone would be hostile; however, I felt everyone pumped everyone up no matter the grade,” said freshman Justin Lemons in an email.
After the intermission was over, the competition kicked into round two. Each competitor performed their second-choice poem, in this order:
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- Anya Malhotra – Senior
- Meanwhile by Richard Siken
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- Emily Roy – Senior
- That’s My Heart Right There by Willie Perdomo
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- Chase Cassidy – Senior
- 1st VOTE by Kamilah Aisha Moon
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- Justin Lemons – Freshman
- Bereavement by Willam Lisle Bowles
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- Jillian Calub – Senior
- All Hallows’ Eve by Dorothea Tanning
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- Yaheli Cruz – Senior
- Abandoned Farmhouse by Ted Kooser
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- Nicole Ottavio – Senior
- Oranges by Roisin Kelly
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- Mckayla Kim – Senior
- The Heart Shows No Signs by Ru Freeman
The judges tallied up the scores to find who Monroe-Woodbury will be sending to the regional competition. With bated breath, the winners were announced.
The runner up was the sole freshman in a room full of seniors, Justin Lemons, with I felt a Funeral, in my Brain (340) and Bereavement.
The two winners of the Monroe-Woodbury Poetry Out Loud Competition were first time competitor Chase Cassidy and decorated winner Yaheli Cruz. Both students went on to perform at the regional stage, where Yaheli Cruz won. She now prepares for the state-wide competition.
“Moving onto the regional stage is certainly nerve racking as it is my first and will be my last time,” said Chase Cassidy in an email prior to the event. “However, I’m so excited to share the microphone with others and listen to the ways other students recite poems. To see this new area I’m exploring on another level will be transformative and thrilling.”
