Poet and didn’t even know it!

MHS student competes in state Poetry Out Loud competition

Story by: Megan Gehmlich

Almost anybody can agree that memorization is no easy task. It takes concentration and constant repetition. Many students here at Madison High School have already learned to master the art of memorization by simply learning how to recite their favorite poems. Senior Kelly Burdick is just one example of someone who has learned the art of poetry and memorization. In fact, she recently competed in State Finals for the Poetry Out Loud competition.

“The competition was held in Boise and everybody there was from a different high school. It was really interesting for me to be able to hear how everybody interpreted their poems differently,” said Burdick.

Kelly Burdick receipts her winning poem at the local Poetry Out Loud competition at MHS. Recorded by: Halle Newhouse

Competing students were expected to memorize three of their favorite poems and recite two of them with a group of people in their area.

“If you made it in the top three or four for your group then you were able to go onto State Finals. I was able to make it into the State Final Competition… There was some really tough competition at state,” said Burdick.

Besides being able to learn amazing public speaking skills, poetry is able to benefit students in many other aspects of their lives.

“Depending on how you say they poem you are reciting, you can have the power to give it different or new meaning,” said Burdick. “At state I learned a lot of things I wasn’t expecting to learn. During one of my reciting someone was cheering me on, so I learned a lot about sportsmanship. Also, at first I wasn’t sure that I could memorize very well, but it was so awesome for me to totally be able to memorize poetry just like that,” said Burdick.

To read more about the local Poetry Out Loud competition, click here.