Words: Natalie Keane
Photos: Zach Grable
On Thursday, December 12, Centennial’s school-wide Poetry Out Loud competition was held in the auditorium.
Twelve winners from the classroom-level competitions joined each other on the stage to each recite two poems from the Poetry Out Loud website database. Apoorva Ajith, Sophie Bombick, Bethany Cho, Larry Du, Susan Kuhn, Yuri Lee, Aya Mohammed, Mira Palakodety, Mats Te Plate, Taimur Raja, Gray Ren, and Leah Roddy were the school-wide competitors.
This year, the theme of the competition was Around the World. Between recitations, four emcees from the National English Honor Society, each dressed in different cultural attire, gave small anecdotes about poetry in cultures across the globe. This aspect gave listeners a chance to learn about the rich history behind many of the poems recited.
Ajith won first place, with Kuhn scoring second and Palakodety in third.
Ajith will advance with three poems to the Region One competition, held on February 1, 2020 at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
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