WESTFIELD – Freshman Olivia LeBlanc, 14, will represent Westfield High School in the Poetry Out Loud regional competition at the Community Music School in Springfield this Sunday at 10 a.m.
Poetry Out Loud www.poetryoutloud.org is a national contest, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation that encourages the nation’s youth to learn about great poetry through memorization and recitation. The program was launched in high schools nationwide in the spring of 2006 and has grown to involve millions of students across the country. This is the tenth year that Westfield High School has participated in the regional competition.
“There was an announcement over the intercom,” LeBlanc, who is interested in drama, acting, and writing, said.
She liked the sound of it, and told Kelly Simon, her English teacher that she would like to get involved.
LeBlanc chose two 19th-century poems to memorize and perform, “The Man He Killed” by Thomas Hardy (1840-1928), and “Revenge” by Letitia Elizabeth Landon (1802-1838).
“We just rehearsed after school, and I just practiced them,” LeBlanc said.
In the competitions, students are evaluated on their physical presence, voice and articulation, evidence of understanding, dramatic appropriateness, accuracy, and overall performance.
Her mother, Tara LeBlanc, didn’t even know at first that her daughter was participating.
“Her teacher, Miss Simon, has been a wonderful coach to her,” Tara LeBlanc said. “Staying after school with her, involving other teachers to critique what she’s doing.”
Three students chose to try out for regionals this year, and LeBlanc was picked to represent the school. Simon said multiple classrooms use lessons throughout the year from Poetry Out Loud, with approx. 100-120 students in the high school learning about poetry through the program. Some years, they have had as many as eight students compete to be the school contest winner.
Simon said four regions will hold competitions over this weekend with 13-23 students competing in each region. Six students are usually selected from each region to go to the State Finals in Boston the following Sunday, March 13. LeBlanc is one of 13 students competing in the western Mass. semi-finals competition.
“Hopefully, she will be one of six to move forward to the state competition,” Simon said.
The winners at the state competition will then move on to a national competition in Washington, D.C. in May.
“It’s been wonderful for her confidence,” Tara LeBlanc said, adding that the experience in public speaking especially will help her in the future.
“It’s a wonderful thing all around,” she said.
