Eleventh-grader Isabell Thill from Antilles School distinguished herself Wednesday at the Poetry Out Loud National Finals in Washington, D.C. She joins more than four million students from 20,000 schools, who have participated since the program began in 2005.
After winning the district championship on St. Thomas, Thill competed in the first of three national semifinals comprising 55 high school students on Wednesday. After two poems, delivered with feeling, she advanced to the final eight. After the eight students recited their third poem, Thill did not advance to the final three to take part in the finals on May 2.
POL contestants are judged on physical presence during the recitation, voice and articulation, interpretation, evidence of understanding, overall performance and accuracy.
Ray Ann Gonzalez was the hostess of the semi-final competition sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts at George Washington University. She said the program “encourages great poetry” and promotes self-care and awareness, helping the students become “master communicators.”
Thill recited two poems and, in the third knockout-round, “The Siren Song” was spoken with feeling, adjusting the volume and emotion as needed. (“Siren Song” was written by Margaret Atwood, who also wrote the “Handmaid’s Tale.”)
Sonya Swan is Thill’s coach who advised her that judges look at how well the competitor understands the poem she is reciting. Contestants should also speak with a clear voice. Swan said the first poem should be “a solid one” and “a great representative of who you are” or words you connect with.
“Isabell is a humble individual. So she didn’t recognize the talent within,” Swan told the Source. “She was shocked that she won” the local competition. On Wednesday, Thill kept saying she was nervous but Swan saw no indication that she was.
Since she is a junior, Swan said Thill can compete again next year. Several of this year’s competitors were returning for the third or fourth time, she added.
On May 2, nine finalists participated in the finals. Niveah Glover of the Douglas Anderson School of the Arts in Florida emerged the national champion to take home $20,000. First runner-up was Tiana Renee Jones of Georgia, who won $10,000, and second runner-up was Nyla Dinkins of the District of Columbia, who was awarded $5,000. Students who place fourth through 12th won $1,000. The winners’ schools will also receive $500 for supplies.
This is not the first time Virgin Islanders have been recognized for their knowledge and recitation of poetry. According to Geoff Bergeron, the program coordinator for POL, the program has been in the territory’s high school curriculum almost since the beginning. Every student from ninth through 12th grade selects a poem from the Poetry Out Loud approved register, memorizes it and recites it with the appropriate emotion. The students learn about public speaking as well as poetry. He said the all of the students enjoy the recitation events at the schools.
Bergeron said he worked with Thill before and after the local competition, focusing on public speaking and understanding the poem and its author.
“If you don’t understand the poem, you won’t do well,” he said. “Isabell Thill did well connecting and conveying the message of the poem.”
In 2008, the national winner was Shantay Henry from Charlotte Amalie High School, and since then several other students distinguished themselves at the nationals
“That kind of sparked things on St. Thomas,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of success with it.”
The V.I. Council on the Arts sponsors and helps with coaching and coordinating programs at the schools and the regional competition. V.I. Parks and Recreation is the other important sponsor, Bergeron said.
In the local contest last March, there were participants from the territory’s high schools, and the winners included Annelia Graham, St. Croix Seventh-day Adventist School, second place, and Qian Harrigan-Thomas of Charlotte Amalie High School, who placed third.
Editor’s Note: A previous version of this story incorrectly reported that the 2008 national winner was from Antilles School. It was Shantay Henry from Charlotte Amalie High School.
