-Kean Students Competes In Poetry Out Loud

By: Felisa Olivieri

Ayanna Miller, Jasmine Lavinier, And Natalya Piper

In Ivanna Eudora Kean High School cafeteria after the schools finals

The Poetry Out Loud Territorial Competition was held on March 10, 2012 at The Windward Passage Hotel. Well, we all know that Devil Rays take competitions seriously. Natalya Piper and Jasmine Lavinier, the competitors from Kean, did what they had to do and recited their poems flawlessly.

“At the end we made top ten, however, I assume that we didn't satisfy the judges enough,” said Natalya Piper. They weren't among the top three, but that was okay for their fans; they still got that Devil Ray Pride.

Natalya Piper, a senior, said, “At first [memorizing a poem] was only a requirement for me, but I grew to love reciting poetry, and it has become a favorite hobby of mine.” Natalya practiced until she could recite the poems in her sleep. She picked her poems by title --- if it sounded interesting -- then by its contents. If it didn't get her attention, she started the process all over again.

Yes, Natalya admitted she gets nervous most of the time. When she gets nervous, she thinks of what God has done for her and says to herself, "He did not bring me this far to leave me."

She added, “When I'm nervous, I shout [in her head], ‘Just do it !’ like Nike.”

She thinks her competitor, Jasmine Lavinier, also a senior at Ivanna Eudora Kean High School, is “an awesome person! Also such a sweet, smart, and loving child” who she is glad to have her as her best friend.

Jasmine Lavinier chose to participate in Poetry Out Loud four years ago and has continued up till now because she was determined to continue the family tradition: her sisters had also won in previous years.

She practices her poems everyday whenever she gets a chance, researching words or phrases in the poem that weren’t clear to her; she also gets input and feedback from different teachers. She picks her poems based on how well she understands them after reading them more than once and whether she had an emotional connection with it.

When Lavinier gets nervous, she does one of three things: she does her square breathing [in through the nose, out the mouth], talks to herself and reminds herself that it’s not that serious, or counts numbers backwards.

Jasmine thinks her competitor Natalya is a great poet, even better than herself, and she is great friend as well.

Shantelle Eddy, class of 2011, set out to Washington D.C. for the Poetry Out Loud Nationals last year. On April 28th the school watched Shantelle live from D.C online. For two years, she competed in Washington against 365,000 students nationwide.

Editor’s Note: You can read about Shantelle’s performance on Kean Web Express by clicking on the story in navigation bar to the left of the home page.