AHS Hosts Poetry Out Loud Contest

Some schools choose to do Spelling Bees, but when it comes to poetry here in Atoka High School very few people actually love it. I recently met up with High School English teacher Shanci Garison to ask about the upcoming Poetry Out Loud contest and how it works. According to Mrs Garison, it is almost like a spelling bee we all know and love.  “ Poetry Out Loud, is a National Poetry Recitation contest. There is an anthology of poems for them to choose from,” states Mrs. Garison. They will be judged in five areas on their performance. Those five include, “voice and articulation, dramatic appropriateness, evidence of understanding the poem and overall performance,” states Mrs Garison. For students to get involved they would have to communicate with three main English teachers: Mrs Hansen, Mrs Gibson, and Mrs Garison herself to get more involved with the contest. There are rules contestants have to follow which may be best. First, the poems have to be found on the website www.poetryoutloud.org and contestants must have chosen two poems to practice and memorize.