PITTSFIELD, Maine — In an era of video games, high-definition television and mobile-to-mobile texting, the art of reciting poetry may seem to some like a thing of the past.
At Maine Central Institute and dozens of other high schools in Maine, the Poetry Out Loud program is ensuring that young people are exposed to poetry. At MCI, every student is required to memorize and recite a poem in front of his or her English class, meaning every MCI graduate has gone through the experience up to four times by commencement day. MCI adopted the Poetry Out Loud project into its curriculum in 2008.
While some students see the requirement as a chore, a healthy percentage take it seriously and some even embrace it, said Deborah Rozeboom, chairwoman of the school’s humanities department.
“It does unlock poetry for a lot of students,” Rozeboom said.
For some, the assignment is a competition. The top scorer from the school’s 35 English classes is invited to participate against the others in a public event that is growing in popularity. Last year’s crammed poetry recital, where some people were turned away because of lack of space, taught organizers that they needed a larger venue. This year’s competition is scheduled for 7 p.m. Jan. 12 at the Pittsfield Community Theatre on Main Street. The event is free and open to the public.
“The kids who do this are just phenomenal. They achieve the heart of the poem,” Rozeboom said. “I couldn’t do what they do.”
The winner of the Jan. 12 event moves on to a regional competition and ultimately could end up at the Poetry Out Loud national championship. Rozeboom said she expects at least a dozen performers and a large audience.
“It’s pretty cool that poetry can still get a theater full of people out on a January night in Maine,” Rozeboom said.
The poems performed by the students are chosen from the Poetry Out Loud website, which has thousands of choices crossing virtually every poetry genre. Poetry Out Loud is a nationwide program run by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation.
With so many poems on the organization’s website, Rozeboom said it’s difficult to identify a certain theme that is popular with students. Some girls like feminist themes, while some boys choose sports topics. Many students gravitate to the “odd and off-the-wall,” Rozeboom said.
Since a performer’s score depends partially on the difficulty of the material, most competitors choose longer poems that don’t rhyme. They’re more difficult.
Rozeboom, who is in her 18th year teaching at MCI, said seeing students building passion for poetry is rewarding.
“In an age where kids spend hours a day in front of one screen or another and communicate in short codes, this is a way to get beyond the superficial,” she said. “For some kids it’s ‘God save me from this,’ but for other it takes on real meaning.”
On the Web: www.poetryoutloud.org
