Hailey Brown Recaptures Poetry Crown at Seward High for 2014

December 12, 2014

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Hailey Brown, Seward High Senior, was named the winner in the annual Poetry Out Loud poetry recitation/memorization contest at the SHS Theater on Monday, December 08, 2014. She will represent SHS at the Poetry Out Loud Regionals in the Spring at Kearney. Her poem was The Death of Allegory by Billy Collins.  Kyle Rojewski was first runner-up with I Am Learning to Abandon the World by Linda Pastan.  Emma Orwen was second runner-up with Wet Casements by John Ashberry. 

Outstanding Senior was Austin Van Velson presenting Song of Myself #35 by Walt Whitman, Outstanding Junior was Montana Hill presenting What Lips My Lips Have Kissed and Where and Why by Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Outstanding Sophomores were Grace Orwen presenting America Smooth by Rita Dave and Taryn Brandl presenting Happiness by Jane Kenyon. 

Each student won a medal donated by the Seward Arts Council.  Hailey competed and won the local contest  featuring 50 Seward High students in competition for the honor to represent SHS at the Poetry Out Loud regional’s in the Spring.  Hailey was also the winner in last year’s contest and qualified for the state level of competition last year.  Clark Kolterman, SHS teacher, served as the local coordinator of the program at SHS.

 Judges for the contest were Rebecca Newton-St. Louis, MO - Concordia University, Kaellyn Marrs-St. Louis, MO -Concordia University, Katie Wright-Crete High, Stephanie Shearer-Arapahoe, NE-  Concordia University.   Pippa White, Lincoln, writer and actress, served as the SHS Poetry Out Loud Guest Artist in Residence, sponsored by the Nebraska Arts Council-the state coordinator of the Poetry Out Loud program.

The students were judged on their memorized, recited poem, as they presented them on stage, in the spot light.  Students were evaluated on physical presence, voice and articulation, dramatic appropriateness, level of complexity, evidence of understanding and overall performance, along with accuracy of the recitation.

Seward High students participating in the contest included….

 Allie Davison Fire and Ice Robert Frost

Felicity Fehlhafer After A Rainstorm Robert Wrigley

Samantha Covert Fire and Ice Robert Frost

Ross Briggs At Cross Purposes Samuel Menashe

Cheyenne Cox Annabel Lee Edgar Allen Poe

Jaycie Germer Auto Lullaby Franz Wright

Shae Sova Fire and Ice Robert Frost

Krystin Oborny Catch  A Little Rhyme Eve Merriam

Kyle Rojewski I Am Learning To Abandon The World Linda Pastan

Rianna Tamasi Abandoned Farm House Ted Koozer

Dan Petersen The Arrow and the Song Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Will Helmer At the Vietnam Memorial George Bilgere

Hendrik van der Heijden A Bird Came Down the Walk Emily Dickinson

Austin Van Velson Song of Myself Walt Whitman

Nate Bierbaum Fire and Ice Robert Frost

Clarke Chandler After A Rainstorm Robert Wrigley

Brendan Doyle Fire and Ice Robert Frost

Marie Ernst Dieu qui sourit et qui donne Victor Hugo

Levi Dybdal Catch A Little Rhyme Eve Merriam

Alexa Bruick Fairy Tale Logic A. E. Stallings

Alice Hager Immortal Sails Alfred Noyes

Marcia Hernandez The Ocean Nathanial Hawthorne

Kari Austin I’m Trying to Break Your Heart Kevin Young

Tierra Bailey The Kiss Robert Graves

Lakresha Howe Awaking in New York Maya Angelou

Nolan Homp Buick Karl Shapiro

Sydney Erickson After A Rainstorm Robert Wrigley

Vanessa Tieken Stopping By The Woods On A Snowy Evening Robert Frost

Paige Snyder Hedgehog Paul Muldoon

 Lauren Kamphaus The Mothering Blackness Maya Angelou

 Zachary Vacha Writing Howard Nemerov

 Dalton Berry Stopping By The Woods On A Snowy Evening Robert Frost

Morgan Elder Broken Promises David Kirby

Jayden Germer America Claude Mckay

 Tyler Filbert On Monsieur’s Departure Elizabeth II

Craig Jirovsky “Mama Said” Calvin Forbes

Taryn Brandl Happiness Jane Kenyon

Grace Orwen American Smooth Rita Dave

Michaela Brown “Baudelaire” Delmore Schwartz

Avram Wunderlich All Hallows Eve Dorothea Tanning

Montana Hill What Lips My Lips Have Kissed and Where and Why? Edna St. Vincent Millay

Emma Orwen Wet Casements John Ashbery

Jenica Hulbert Blind Curse Simon Ortiz

Robin Grupp Domestic Situation Earnest Hilbert

Morgan Souchek All Hallows Eve Dorothea Tanning

Riley Souchek Catch A Little Rhyme Eve Merriam

Amanda Marcov The Kiss Robert Graves

Isabella Jean  Graves The Bloody Sire Robinson Jeffers

Hailey Brown The Death of Allegory Billy Collins

Kaitlin Smith Fire and Ice Robert Frost