Poetry Out Loud

Today we gathered for a school-wide competition of Poetry Out Loud, an annual tradition at Rice. Each student selects a poem, memorizes it, and recites it in front of their peers. All of our students compete at the classroom level first, the ones who perform the best in the classroom were invited to compete at this next round.
"One of the most powerful benefits of poetry, of all literature, is having the experience of reading the ideas and voice of a person whose identity does not match your own. Poetry should expand our understanding of the world around us and all the people in it." - Mr. Matarazzo, English Department Chair.

It's remarkable to see almost 400 teenagers gathered together for over an hour to listen to poetry - well done!

Today, the finalists presented their poem in front of the whole school and were scored by a panel of judges on accuracy, presence, voice and articulation, dramatic appropriateness, evidence of understanding, and overall performance. The results?

• 1st Place: Laural Callan
• 2nd Place: Celeste Hines
• 3rd Place: Maddie Olsen 
• 4th Palce: Miriam Callan

We had more participants than ever: heartfelt congratulations to all our finalists! 


View Photos
Thank you to Tristan S. for the photos! Video clips coming next week.