Two students will be headed to the state-wide 2011 Poetry Out Loud competition after presentations before a panel of judges at IPA on February 23. Shelden Balatico (’11) took first place in the IPA competition with his recitations of A Dream Within a Dream by Edgar Allen Poe, and Yusef Komunyakaa’s poem entitled Pride.

Jaymie-Rae Martin (’12) gave a spirited rendition of Lewis Carroll’s The Jabberwocky after also reciting No Moon Floods the Memory of That Night by Ethridge Knight. By taking second place in the school contest, she will join Balatico as IPA’s two entries in the state competition on March 20.

Salus Kim’s (`14) renditions of Poe’s Alone, and The Arrow and the Sling by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow put her in third place in the competition.

2011 IPA Poetry Out Loud contestants included (Standing L-R) Aaron Ponce, Taylor-Lynn Costa, Jaymie-Rae Martin, Jonathan Finucane, Camille Larkins, Shelden Balatico, Maxine Rongcal, Advisor Laura Davis. (Kneeling L-R) Jessica Merriman, Salus Kim, and Nathasia Cabreros. (not photographed Jenny Fox)

This is the third year that students at IPA have taken part in the competition, which is entirely voluntary and all the practice must be done outside of class time. As faculty adviser Laura Davis said in opening this year’s competition, “These performances represent many hours of preparation, and congratulations are due to all the students for the work they have done. It’s not as easy as they will make it look.” Popularity of the competition has grown from half a dozen competitors in the first year to 12 students this year.

Five faculty served as judges for the school competition. Recitations are judged on the difficulty of the poem, physical presence, voice and articulation, dramatic appropriateness to the poem, and evidence of understanding of the material. A separate score is given for accuracy; even minor deviations from the words of the poem will result in points lost.

Previous school level winners have been senior Caprice Avis, Ramona Roy and Brennen McKinney, both from the Class of 2010.

The state level competition will be held on March 20 at the Tenney Theatre in the Cathedral Church of Saint Andrew, in downtown Honolulu. The event is open to the public. For more information, contact Faculty Advisor Laura Davis.