William Floyd School District: WFHS Students Showcase Expressive Talents At Annual ‘Poetry Out Loud' Competition

Press release from the William Floyd School District:

2022-02-03

Emotion. Language. Articulation. Expression. William Floyd students can do it all.

The Poetry Out Loud recitation contest, a yearly nationwide competition, provides students with the opportunity to showcase their linguistic and expressive talents while enhancing their public speaking skills through the recitation of classic or contemporary poetry selected from an online anthology. Students compete locally, regionally and then nationally for the chance to earn a share of more than $50,000 in scholarships.

This year’s local competition, held in the William Floyd High School Jeananne Dawson Memorial Library, included two rounds of fierce competition, with students showcasing their recitation skills and passion for poetry.

Senior Amber Martinez earned the title as the 2021-22 Poetry Out Loud champion for William Floyd High School. Kaitlyn Keegan, also a senior, won second-place honors. 

The Poetry Out Loud schoolwide challenge is part of the English department’s annual recitation program, which encourages the study, interpretation and performance of great poetry. With 14 classroom-level winners competing for top honors, a panel of judges reviewed and scored student performances based on criteria including physical presence, voice and articulation, dramatic appropriateness, evidence of understanding, accuracy and overall performance.

Participants in the Poetry Out Loud competition with their teachers clockwise from top left: Lillian Bilello, Jessica Vultaggio, Viveca Nargi (English department chairperson) and Amanda Irish pose with their students.

With their performances, Amber and Kaitlyn will represent William Floyd later this month at the regional competition, which will feature winners from across Long Island. The winner of that competition will then represent Long Island in the New York State final in March.

Congratulations and good luck in the next round, Amber and Kaitlyn!

Special thanks to the contest coordinators: Viveca Nargi, Lillian Bilello, Alison Goldberg, Amanda Irish, and Jessica Vultaggio; judges: Tim Lullo, Holly Mascolo, Mary Matthews, Stacy Redmond and Brian Sckipp; and score tabulator: Christine Rosado.  

Poetry Out Loud is a national arts education program that encourages the study of great poetry by offering free educational materials and a dynamic recitation competition for high school students across the country. This program helps students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about literary history and contemporary life. Poetry Out Loud is a partnership of the National Endowment for the Arts, Poetry Foundation, and the state and jurisdictional arts agencies.

Since 2005, Poetry Out Loud has grown to reach more than 4.1 million students and 68,000 teachers from 17,000 schools and organizations in every state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa.

Please see some of the winning performances by Amber in the videos below!

This press release was produced by the William Floyd School District. The views expressed here are the author’s own.