It’s official – four talented Academy students have qualified as finalists for the  school-wide Poetry Out Loud competition on Wednesday, January 30, during Catholic Schools Week.  The following winners have chosen their second poems and will be ready to go on the big day:

Arlyn Barlaan – 12th Grade

• “Truth”      by Gwendolyn Brooks   
• “Numbers” by Mary Cornish

Emily Rodriguez – 11^th Grade

• Vigil Strange I Kept on the Field One Night By Walt Whitman 
• Baudelaire      By Delmore Schwartz

Ashlyn Bradshaw – 10th Grade

• “The American Soldier” by Philip Freneau 
• “When I Am Asked” by Lisel Mueller

Kelsea Henry – 9th Grade

•   “The Donkey” by G.K. Chesterton
• “The Star” by Ann Taylor, Jane Taylor

The State Finals contest will be held on March 9, in the Heritage Hall Auditorium at the R.A. Gray Building in Tallahassee, Florida. Winners at this level will advance to the National Finals, which will be held in Washington, DC, on April 28-30.  Runners up will receive  a total of $50,000 in awards and school stipends will be given out to the finalists. The winner will receive $20,000 in college scholarship funds and national media recognition.

 In 2006, after piloting the program in D.C. and Chicago, Poetry Out Loud began Nationwide. Through the program, students have gained better public speaking skills, confidence, and knowledge about poetry through memorization and recitation.

 Jillian Frankes, 2012 POL national champion, really got a lot out of the competition. “This experience has been such a blessing for me. I have gained a much more complete understanding of art (especially expressing art), but I have also gained self-confidence. Thank you, Poetry Out Loud!”

Judges for the grade-level judging were Mrs. Maureen Raimo, Mrs. Maureen Martineau, and Ms. Melissa Cox.  Judges for the finalist competition on January 30, will be Ms. Shelia Diecidue, Ms. Kristine Cansdale Bennett, and Ms. Ana Riveron Ibanez.

Semi-Finalists and Recitation Selections

Seniors

1. Arlyn Barlaan “Numbers” by Mary Cornish

2. Michelle Ebrada “Ode” by Arthur O’Shaughnessy 

3. Taylor Hernandez “Cartoon Physics, Part 1” by Nick Flynn 

4. Nora Johnson “A Certain Kind of Eden” by Kay Ryan

5. Catherine Young “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost

Juniors

1. Kendall Bopp – “Famous”  by Naomi Shihab Nye 

2. Laura Castillo –“Isla”  by Virgil Suarez 

3. Bridget Davis – “A Barred Owl” by Richard Wilbur 

4. Emily Dever – “Immigrant Picnic” by Gregory Djanikian 

5. Emily Rodriquez – “Vigil Strange I Kept on the Field One Night” by Walt Whitman 

Sophomores

1. Ashlyn Bradshaw – “The American Soldier” by Garrett Hongo

2. Maggie Brekka – “Childhood’s Retreat” by Robert Duncan

3. Olivia Gessner – “The Watchers” by William Stanley Braithwaite

4. Chaveli Guzman – “The Legend” by Garrett Hongo

5. Claudia Montilla – “Deliberate” by Amy Uyematsu

6. Lexi Nieto –“The Arrow and the Song” by Henry Wordsworth Longfello

7. Amber Orosco – “Meeting at Night” by Robert Browning

8. Julia Schifino – “Pity the Beautiful” by Dana Gioia

Freshmen

1. Mollie Johnson – “Alone”  by Edgar Allan Poe

2. Kelsea Henry – “The Donkey”  by G.K. Chesterton

3. Eva Prendergast – “After a Rainstorm” by Robert Wrigley

4. Julia DiFabrizio – “The Owl” by Edward Thomas

5. Amelia Llerena – “The Road Not Taken”  by Robert Frost