Local High School Student Enters Finals of Poetry Slam

An Alpharetta high school student competed as a finalist in the Atlanta Hawks Poetry Slam at the Hard Rock Café in Atlanta this week.

Trent Gray, a student at Independence High School, was one of 15 students from 12 different schools in 7 different counties throughout Georgia to present his poem in the final round of competition.

The theme for this year's Poetry Slam was "My Atlanta," and finalists were judged on connection to the topic, overall message and originality/creativity.

"We had 15 finalists compete and for the first time ever, a tie for first  place," said Alison Sawyer, director of corporate communications for the Atlanta Hawks.
The top finalists were:

1. Joshua Lewis and Lauren Poe
2. Corsha Driver
3. Max Kantor

Judges were Dahntay Jones, Atlanta Hawks forward; Devika Rao, Atlanta Journal Constitution; Trent North, director of Community Affairs and Program Compliance, Carrollton City Schools, and; Collin Kelley, poet, novelist and editor.

Nominations for the Atlanta Hawks Poetry Slam were accepted through February 15, 2013 and open to high school students in grades 9-12 who attend school within 75 miles of Philips Arena. This is the fourth year that the Atlanta Hawks have hosted the Poetry Slam for Georgia students.