Winners of the Windsor High School ​Poetry Out Loud Finals

The 11th annual Windsor High Poetry Out Loud Final was held on Wednesday, January 24th. Junior Madelon Morin-Viall took first place to become the 2018 WHS Poetry Out Loud School Champion. This is Maddie’s second consecutive win. Second Place was awarded to sophomore Amari Jones. Rounding out the Top Five were Zoe Gosselin (grade 11), Yasmine Cruz (grade 9), and Athena Camacho (grade 10). Seventeen students performed poems by published poets ranging from Robert Frost to Agha Shahid Ali.

Now in its twelfth year nationally, Poetry Out Loud is an exciting program, presented by The Poetry Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, and various State Arts Agencies, which “invites the dynamic aspects of slam poetry, spoken word, and theater into the English class” (PoetryOutLoud.org). The program helps students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about their literary heritage. Windsor High School has participated in Poetry Out Loud since 2008 and is one of the longest-running participant schools in the state.

Maddie will represent Windsor High at the State Finals on March 3rd at Manchester Community College. This event is open to the public.

About Windsor Public Schools:

Windsor Public Schools serves nearly 4,000 students in the community of Windsor, Connecticut, a town located in north central Connecticut between Hartford and Springfield, Massachusetts. Windsor Public Schools is comprised of six schools: Oliver Ellsworth School, Poquonock School, Clover Street School, John F. Kennedy School, Sage Park Middle School, and Windsor High School. The mission of Windsor Public Schools is to develop the genius in every child and to create life-long learners. For more information about the Windsor Board of Education and any of its schools, please visit www.windsorct.org.