High school students from across the region gathered at the Ulrich Museum of Art on Saturday, Feb. 6, to perform memorized poetry in the region three Poetry Out Loud competition.
Poetry Out Loud is a national program that encourages high school students to connect with their communities through poetry, while competing against each other.
First, students perform at their local schools where they are judged on their memorization and performance, then they can advance to the regional and state competitions before finalists are selected for the national competition in Washington, D.C.
The regional competition consisted of two rounds, with students performing a different memorized poem in each round before a panel of judges. Performances were evaluated by Chris Hill, a local community arts advocate and poet, and Kiara Suarez-Sosa and Payton Dearmont, both high school educators.
For both competitors, the competition offered their first opportunity to perform in a university art space.
Keiryn Hein, a student from Northfield Academy in Wichita, placed first in the competition.
“I took a poetry class that I honestly didn’t like very much at first, but it introduced me to poetry,” Hein said. “I started writing poetry and kind of fell in love with it.”
Hein said that preparing for the competition felt a lot like preparing for a theater monologue, which she is no stranger to. It involves memorization as well as understanding the emotion behind the content, then translating that emotion into your words.
“It’s not just about memorizing,” Hein said. “It’s about understanding what (a poem) means, how it feels and the images behind it.”
Kennedy Meinecke, a student at Wichita East High School who placed second overall, attributes her love for spoken word and performing to her theater background.
“I don’t really do forensics or anything, but I do acting and theater, and with that it came very naturally to me,” Meinecke said. “I like to try different interpretations as I practice and see what happens.”
Several of the students’ family members were in the audience, reflecting on the growth they had seen throughout the competition process.
Shawna Hein, Keiryn Hein’s mother and the Head of School at Northfield Academy, said the competition is a great opportunity for her daughter to get into local arts. Shawna said she is grateful for the opportunity for her daughter and other students to explore creativity beyond the classroom.
“Finding a place for (Keiryn’s) poetry has been really broadening for her,” she said. “It’s really great for her to be able to spread her wings.”
The Ulrich hosts a variety of community events throughout the year for people of all ages. Brenda Linchman, the museum’s associate director of education, said that events like Poetry Out Loud align with its mission of community engagement and arts education.
“Our mission is to open the doors of the museum to everyone,” Linchman said. “We want the Ulrich to be a resource for all ages and support creative growth in the community.”
Stacy Chestnut, the Kansas region three coordinator for Poetry Out Loud and an educator at Wichita High School East, said she believes that collaboration between educational institutions, like Wichita State University and the Poetry Out Loud program, allows younger students to access opportunities they might not otherwise have.
“When institutions work together, we can provide opportunities that support student growth and progression,” Chestnut said.
The impact of the program extends beyond high school. Ismail Saeed, a freshman political science major at Wichita State University and last year’s Poetry Out Loud State winner, said that participating in the competition helped connect him to Wichita’s art community.
“It really helped me get connected to the art scene in Wichita,” Saeed said. “Poetry is a beautiful art form, and it’s something people of all ages should be able to explore.”
