Words of Poets Brought to Life in Poetry Out Loud

OLIVIA CHEUNG
Editor in Chief

Poetry is defined as a literary work that emphasizes the expression of feelings and ideas through the use of a distinct style and rhythm. To many students at AHS, the essence of poetry is captured at the annual Poetry Out Loud competition that serves as an outlet for students who wish to express themselves through the spoken word.

“I participated because I absolutely admire how words in poetry have such an impact on one’s character and perspective,” sophomore Siciley Munoz said. “Poetry allows us to express words in a way [that] we can all connect to other’s inner fears, emotions and thoughts.”

Poetry Out Loud is a national competition that begins in a classroom setting and eventually progresses to the national stage. First, there are class competitions; the winners from these class competitions advance into their respective high school’s competition. The top high school winners then compete in the district and gradually move up to county, state and nationals.

Winners of the state competition are awarded $200 and an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C. to compete in nationals. The first-place national winner will receive a $20,000 award and their high school will receive $500 to purchase poetry books.

AHS’ high school competition took place on Dec. 7 in the Little Theater. Eight out of the 19 participants advanced to the district competition that took place on Dec. 12, also located in the Little Theater.

The eight participants included Andrew Benavides, Andy Chan, Gabriel Covarrubias, Tina Le, Ricky Perez, Emma Ruvalcaba, Brianna Sandoval and Esther Xitumul. Sophomore Brianna Sandoval won both the AHS competition and the district competition; she is scheduled to participate in the Los Angeles County competition on February 6.

“I am really honored to have won both the high school and the district competitions. I am not going to lie, it was pretty tough and I feel so lucky to be going on to the county competition,” Sandoval said.

Currently, AHS students interested in poetry have been encouraged to consider participating in the Alhambra Moors Poet Society (AMPS).

“It always inspires me to see a student connect with a certain poem and read more about the particular author afterwards,” AMPS adviser Joshua Moreno said. “Finding that connection is why […] Poetry Out Loud is so powerful.”