Preliminary Competition: Sign-Ups

It's Competition Time! 

The preliminary contest round, which will determine who advances to the school competition in January, will be held throughout the day on Thursday, December 15th. 

Follow the link below to sign up for an audition time. Deadline for sign-ups is December 9th.

Preliminary Round Sign-Ups

Important info:

• The auditions will be held in the Principals' Conference Room, next to the cafeteria.
• You need to have one poem memorized and prepared for this round (Remember that, should you advance to the school competition, you will need to perform TWO poems!)
• Please arrive five minutes before your scheduled audition time.

Incredible Poems

I will keep a running list of poems from PoetryOutLoud.org that catch my eye, in case they capture your fancy too...

Onions

Clothespins

Wonderbread

The Mortician in San Francisco 

The New Colossus 

2016-17 Poetry Out Loud Kickoff!

We are off and running!

This school year promises to be an exciting and dynamic one in the world of spoken word performance.  Poetry Out Loud is all about finding your voice and celebrating the spoken word with your peers. New and returning members are ALWAYS welcome -- whether you've competed in POL before, want to compete for the first time, or are simply curious about the program.

Some important dates:

• Thursday, October 13th: lunchtime meeting in room 210 
• (Theme: bring a friend!)
• Thursday, November 17th: lunchtime meeting in room 210 
• (Theme: SOAPSTone)
• Thursday, December 15th: lunchtime meeting in room 210 
• (Theme: performance)
• Thursday, January 12th: School Competition

Stay tuned: more dates and details may be forthcoming!

2016 HVPOL Champion: Skyler Rossi!

And the winners are....

School Champion: Skyler Rossi (grade 11)

First Runner Up: Lily Nong (grade 10)

Second Runner Up: Lucas Carsky-Wilson (grade 10)

Congratulations to our winners and to everyone who participated in CHS's inaugural Poetry Out Loud competition!

Videos & Evaluation Criteria

I've chosen some POL videos that exemplify the criteria on which you will be scored.  Each description aligns with a score of "outstanding" (6 points) on the Poetry Out Loud Rubric.

Voice and Articulation:
Very clear, crisp, mastery of rhythm and pace, skillful use of volume and intonation.

Physical Presence:

Authoritative; body language and eye contact show compelling stage presence.

Dramatic Appropriateness:

Style of delivery reflects internalization of poem; all gestures and movements feel essential to poem’s success.

Evidence of Understanding:

Masterfully interprets poem for audience, deftly revealing poem’s meaning. (And yes, that IS Kerry Washington introducing the student!)

.... Do you have other favorite POL videos?  Post them in the comments section below!

Suggested Poem: Bright Copper Kettles

Poetry Out Loud : Bright Copper Kettles

I love this poem: it's surreal and familiar at the same time.  In recent years, POL has made a serious effort to collect representative poets from all over the world.