Poetry Out Loud winner speaks his mind

On the evening of Feb. 7, in front of a standing room only crowd at Imagination Theater, students from nine El Dorado high school programs vied for the chance to become El Dorado County's Poetry Out Loud champion.

In an extraordinarily keen competition, Corbin Gomez, a senior from Oak Ridge High School, took top honors.

His first recitation Alberto Rios's "The Pomegranate and the Big Crowd," an ecstatic poem in which one family's entire history is compressed into the moment of a single kiss. For the second round, Gomez performed "What Work Is" by the current United States poet laureate, Philip Levine.

Right on the heels of Gomez's victory was Ponderosa senior Serena Mora who mesmerized the audience with both poem choices: "Famous" by Naomi Shihab Nye and Mary Howitt's "The Spider and the Fly," a cautionary tale urging children to be wary of both strangers and flattery.

Third place went to the evening's youngest contestant, Hannah Ferguson, a freshman at Charter Smith Flat.

In the first round, Ferguson presented the classic 19th century poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. In the second round she recited "Luke Havergal," a haunting and disturbing narrative lyric by Edwin Arlington Robinson.

The other outstanding recitations were by Rebecca Dolan from Golden Sierra High School, Jack Gabrial from the El Dorado County Office of Education Program, Emma Holm from El Dorado High School, Alix Kopitzke from the El Dorado Adventist Academy, Nicholle Schmidt from Union Mine High School and Drew Velasquez from Independence High School.

Prior to the county competition, all nine students received one-on-one coaching with Shawn Pittard, a Northern California poet and screenwriter. Pittard, in the audience at the county finals, was impressed with what he saw: "What's cool is that these were very poised young people who clearly embraced and embodied their poems, providing an experience for all of us. It was a blast."

As the El Dorado County champion, Gomez now goes on to compete against 32 other county winners in the California State Finals to be held in Sacramento on March 25-26.

The top contestant at the state level will win a $250 cash award and an all-expenses paid trip for two to the Poetry Out Loud National Finals slated to take place on May 13-15, in Washington, DC.

Mark Coovelis, the English teacher who spearheaded Poetry Out Loud on the Oak Ridge campus, is optimistic about Gomez's chances in the state finals.

"Corbin is very charismatic. He has all of the skills to do well in the competition. His presence, articulation and understanding of the poems are first rate," said Coovelis. "He's working hard and taking it very seriously."

Coovelis, a big fan of Poetry Out Loud and the El Dorado Arts Council — the program's local sponsor, appreciates the positive results he sees in his students.

"What's enlightening is how much the kids like poetry and how much they like hearing their friends recite poems. And they get exposed to so many different poets and poems," said Coovelis.

Poetry Out Loud is a national recitation competition sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation.

Now in its seventh year, the program seeks to foster the next generation of literary readers by building on the resurgence of poetry as an oral art form. Through Poetry Out Loud, students can master public speaking skills, build self-confidence and learn about their literary heritage.

At the local level, a generous grant from Women's Fund El Dorado assisted with program outreach, enabling Poetry Out Loud to not only train over 60 volunteers, but also to grow from six to nine participating high school programs in the 2011-12 season.

To learn more about El Dorado County's Poetry Out Loud contest, contact
Emogene Marbut, El Dorado Arts Council program administrator at 530-295-3496 or EDAC@eldoradoartscouncil.org.

General information can be found at cac.ca.gov and poetryoutloud.org.