LS Sophomore Goes on to State Semifinals in Poetry Event

Lincoln-Sudbury Sophomore Piyusha Kundu will be representing Lincoln-Sudbury High School on the weekend of March 4-5th as students from all over Massachusetts will compete in the Regional Semi-finals of Poetry Out Loud, a national poetry recitation contest. If she makes it to the top tier there, she will move on to the State Finals on Sunday, March 12th, in the Old South Meeting House in Boston. This event is free and open to the public.

Ms Kundu earned her spot as the Lincoln-Sudbury representative on Friday, February 3rd, at an event at Bemis Hall in Lincoln. On that night, sixteen Lincoln-Sudbury Students competed in the Lincoln-Sudbury Finals, including: Ethan Minkoff, Marisa Singh, Becca Dubrovsky, Lara Garabedian, Michaella DeSantis, Melody Phu, Elina Suter, Owen Finsthwait, Ella Houlihan, Parker Simon, Mary Lee, Julia Martin, Kate Molloy, Lee Goff, and Kendall Dawson. Ms. Dawson, a senior, was the runner-up.

Students read poems by a variety of authors from Audre Lord to Robert Frost to Li Young-Lee. The judges for the event were Lincoln-Sudbury History Department Coordinator Phil James, English teacher Susan Frommer, and LS School Committee Members Nancy Marshall and Radha Gargeya.

Poetry Out Loud is a program supported by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation, who have partnered with state arts agencies of the United States to encourage the nation's youth to learn about great poetry through memorization and recitation. This program helps students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about their literary heritage. In Massachusetts, it is administered by the Huntington Theater in Boston.

Organized at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School by English Teacher Danielle Weisse for the sixth year, Poetry Out Loud involved approximately 200 students in the preliminary rounds. The classroom winners competed in the semi-finals held at the LS Auditorium on Wednesday, February 1st, 2017. Judges included Superintendent-Principal Bella Wong, LS Athletic/Activities Director Peter Elenbaas, Librarian Susan King, and teachers Susan Frommer, Dan Lewis, Desiree Butter, Karen D’Amore, and Angela D’Allesandro.

Each winner at the state level will receive $200 and an all-expenses-paid trip with an adult chaperone to Washington to compete for the national championship. A total of $50,000 in awards and school stipends will be awarded at the National Finals.The winner of the National Poetry Out Loud Contest wins $20,000.