The Academy for Science and Design Holds School-wide Competition

On Monday, January 30, 2017, students from the Academy for Science and Design Charter School (ASD) in Nashua competed in a school-wide Poetry Out Loud contest. Poetry Out Loud is a National Recitation Contest. The competition, presented in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Poetry Foundation, is part of a national program that encourages high school students to learn about great poetry through memorization, performance, and competition.

These students recited works they selected from an anthology of more than 900 classic and contemporary poems. Judges evaluated student performances on criteria including voice and articulation, evidence of understanding, and accuracy. Eight students presented two poems each in front of a panel of judges and an appreciative audience. These participants chose and memorized poems that spoke to them from a list of published poems eligible for this year’s contest. English teacher James Jenkins is the coordinator of this program at ASD.

Poetry Out Loud uses a pyramid structure that starts at the classroom level. Winners advance to a school-wide competition, then to a regional competition, a state competition and ultimately to the National Finals.

The winner of ASD’s Poetry Out Loud competition was sophomore Kira Gousios, and the runner-up was freshman Tess MacMahon who must be ready to step in if Gousios cannot attend the Regional Semi-Finals taking place February 13, 2017, at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester.

The NH State Finals Championship will be held on March 10, 2017, at the State House in Concord. Each champion at the state level will receive $200 and an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, DC, to compete for the national championship, April 24-26, 2017. The school of the state champion will receive $500 for the purchase of poetry books.

The Academy for Science and Design is actively seeking to partner with local companies and businesses for student-centered things such as internships in STEM fields for our students, financial donations, and/or presenters for our school for the SPARK Conferences. Financial donations can be an outright financial contribution in the amount of your choice or can consist of underwriting costs for installing a specific facility technology or program. More information can be found on our website at www.asdnh.org or email Amy.Bewley@asdnh.org.