VIDEO EXCLUSIVE! SEE ANDREW BRONDOS PERFORM THE WINNING POEM.

Staying up late was common for students in sophomore English classes; each had to pick a poem on poetryoutloud.org that they liked and understood. Students then had to memorize their poems and had to recite it in front of the class. Besides the recitation, appropriate gestures, voice changes, pauses, and change of pace were all part of the grade.

Some students took the assignment lightly, but others like sophomore Andrew Brondos put lots of thought, energy and time into his poem.

Brondos said, “I put in one to two hours of a practice each night, a lot of studying and interpreting, along with help from my friends.”

Each student was given a grade, and a winner was determined from each class. Those winners along with a few runner-ups moved on to the school competition which took place first and second periods on Thursday, January 29th.

The fourteen students who were selected as top in their class were all very skilled in the recitation of their poems, but the five sophomore English teachers had to judge who the top seven were.

The seven best sophomore students who were selected for the final round were Brondos, Ali Connelly, Taylor Dalton, Brianna Griggs, Joanna Keen, Nick Rohm, and David Tomecek.

These students all had to recite the poem “Chicago” rather than say the poems they had previously memorized. This was to see how all the students interpreted the same poem. They did not have to memorize “Chicago”, but were judged on their overall performance of the reading.

After all seven students had completed their reading the judges had to choose a winner. They doubled the first round scores and added the score of the “Chicago” reading. From there, they chose Brondos as the winner and Griggs as the runner-up.

According to Brondos, reading “Chicago” was easier than reciting. “At that point, the nerves were out. I had a piece of paper with marks on there to emphasize and pause at the right times,” said Brondos.  

The next step for Brondos is the state competition. He has to find a new poem to memorize and interpret before the competition. Brondos says that he feels good about his chances to win state and advance to the national competition and why not? He has shown the dedication necessary to win this nationwide contest.

--Submitted by Charlie Morrissey, Staff Reporter