Turning poetry into performance
By Daniel Arens
Sometimes, a speech is just a speech. But sometimes, a speech can become a work of art.
Sophomores at Hazen High School recently got their chance to attempt to transform works of poetry into powerful presentations through a poetry course in Mrs. Marianne Schmitt’s class. Those schools presentations were part of a state and nationwide program called “Poetry Out Loud”.
“There are about 28 school [in North Dakota] in it,” Schmitt said. “This was Hazen’s first year participating.”
Schmitt had each student select two poems out of an anthology. These poems were memorized by the students, who then recited them to the class, and were scored by Schmitt. From the three sophomore classes in the school, the top two scores were able to compete before a panel of judges composed of teachers from the district.
