Kids & Family
The Academy for Science and Design holds school-wide Competition
Students from the Academy for Science and Design Charter School (ASD) in Nashua compete in a school-wide Poetry Out Loud contest.
On Wednesday, February 21, 2019, students from the Academy for Science and Design Charter School (ASD), a National Blue Ribbon School competed in their ninth annual school-wide Poetry Out Loud contest. Poetry Out Loud is a National Recitation Contest. The competition, presented in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Poetry Foundation, is part of a national program that encourages high school students to learn about great poetry through memorization, performance, and competition.
These students recited works they selected from an anthology of more than 900 classic and contemporary poems. Judges evaluated student performances on criteria including voice and articulation, evidence of understanding, and accuracy. The students presented two poems each in front of a panel of judges made up of ASD Humanities teachers Kim Cashin, Stuart Harmon, Jared Grace and Aimee Seiler and an appreciative audience. These participants chose and memorized poems that spoke to them from a list of published poems eligible for this year’s contest. English teacher and Poetry Out Loud coordinator James Jenkins said “I am extremely proud of all of the students who made this year’s competition such a success.”
Poetry Out Loud uses a pyramid structure that starts at the classroom level. Winners advance to a school-wide competition, then to a regional competition, a state competition and ultimately to the National Finals.
The winner of ASD’s Poetry Out Loud competition was sophomore Grace Conard, and the runner-up was sophomore Patrick Jackson who must be ready to step in if Conard cannot attend the Regional Semi-Finals taking place at 6:00 pm on March 4, 2019, at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester.
The NH State Finals Championship will be held on March 15, 2019, at the State House in Concord. Each champion at the state level will receive $200 and an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, DC, to compete for the national championship, April 30 - May 1, 2019. The school of the state champion will receive $500 for the purchase of poetry books.
The Academy for Science and Design is actively seeking to partner with local companies and businesses for student-centered initiatives such as internships, financial donations, and/or industry professionals to get involved in the school’s program. More information can be found on ASD’s website at www.asdnh.org, or email Marketing and Communications Coordinator Amy.Bewley@asdnh.org. For more information about the Poetry Out Loud Competition, please visit www.poetryoutloud.org.