Every eye in the audience was fixated on one single reciter, emotionally speaking through cryptic metaphors and ear-catching rhymes, orating for her chance to compete for a $20,000 cash prize in Washington D.C.

Senior Tess Garcia’s effective recitations of “Meditation on a Grapefruit” by Craig Arnold and “Stopping By the Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost, won her the school’s Poetry Out Loud competition, giving her the opportunity to compete on a state level in Hartford in March, and — if successful — nationally in D.C. on April 25-26.                                

Poetry Out Loud is a national competition in which students grades 8-12 are tasked with reciting, verbatim, two poems from the Poetry Out Loud anthology. The recitations must be completely raw, as competitors are prohibited from making use of props or costumes and are rewarded for emotion.

This year, English teacher Elise Tobin required her creative writing students to compete in the competition, a first for DHS. “I feel lucky because I am teaching  two sections of creative writing, so I turned it into an assignment for them,” says Tobin, herself a published poet.

Tobin first held classroom competitions on Dec. 21. In these, every student was required to present one poem to their class. They were critiqued by two other English teachers based on the Poetry Out Loud rubric, to decide who would move on.

The 2nd period judges — Aly Femia and Andrea DeLotto — chose two students, senior Dianna Benz, along with Garcia, and the judges of the 8th period competition — Jana John and Krisanthia Panaelidis — selected junior Lindsey Stampfler and sophomore Jasmely Rodriguez.

Over the holiday break, the quartet were required to memorize another poem to recite — along with the original poem — and to have been prepared to recite again Jan. 4.

Throughout the class, a pin could be heard dropping to the floor during the theatrical pauses in every student’s performance. And, after they concluded, the silence of the audience was broken by wild applause. The high energy of the room was so filled with support for their peers, so unlike the tense feelings of a typical competition, as if the differences of the students were wiped away by the poetic unification.

The recitations were captivating as the timeless words of Frost, Kaminsky, Stallings, Wagner and others were personalized and retold in a way that let the audience into the students’ lives.

By the end of the competition, Garcia was chosen by judges Katelyn Luis and Gregory Euchner to represent DHS in Hartford. Benz was selected as runner-up; she will take place of Garcia if she is unable to attend the state competition.

Tobin, along with the competitors, spoke about the many benefits of Poetry Out Loud. This is another way of, “tapping into Danbury’s excitement for poetry,” says Tobin.

“We have such a rich history of poetry here at DHS,” she says, talking about the annual Wordfest competition that is put on in the spring.

In this school-only competition, students are expected to write their own poetry and share them in assemblies for the whole school. Many of Tobin’s students have participated in Wordfest in the past, so Poetry Out Loud is a new type of poetic experience for them.

In contrast to Wordfest’s new poetry, Poetry Out Loud is, “a way of bringing up poetry from a long time ago to a fresh new voice,” says Garcia.

She says that this competition is a way for teenagers to understand the timelessness of poetry, adding that no matter how long ago a piece was written, there will always be a way for someone to relate to it.

Tobin agrees, saying, “Now,” with the poems they chose for this contest, “they have something in their brain and in their heart as close to authentically them as it can get.”

Benz also talks about how the competition helped her—and others— ease their fear of public speaking. “Poetry is a great creative outlet that helps people express themselves and get over fears of talking in front of people,” she says.

Everyone in the audiences witnessed students’ battle with nerves as some twiddled their thumbs during recitations, or paused between lines to remember to breathe, while others had to leave the room for a moment to prepare themselves to go back in and share their poems.

Despite these butterflies, the competition was a success. Because of this, though it’s Tobin’s—and DHS’s— first time participating in Poetry Out Loud, Tobin says she, “would be open to” continuing it in the future, perhaps making it an annual event.

Now, the wait is on for March 4 and the state competition, which Garcia said she is “excited for” as well as “terrified of.”

Garcia doesn’t want the nerves to get the best of her; she’s looking forward to sharing her interpretation of two poems that she loves.

Overall, memorizing and performing these poems has benefitted each student in different ways. Whether it be having a piece of art to relate to, or discovering “the beauty in the world,” through poetry, as Tobin says, or finally ridding themselves of their fear of public speaking, or just raising their creative writing grade a couple points, this was a positive experience for all.

“Poetry is a way for us to understand that in our greatest joys and in our deepest sorrows,” Tobin says, “there is a humanity that connects us all.”