{"id":20039,"date":"2024-05-16T15:50:51","date_gmt":"2024-05-16T19:50:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/?p=20039"},"modified":"2024-05-16T15:52:04","modified_gmt":"2024-05-16T19:52:04","slug":"poetry-is-the-focus-for-several-tallahassee-collegiate-academy-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/2024-05-16\/poetry-is-the-focus-for-several-tallahassee-collegiate-academy-students\/","title":{"rendered":"Poetry is the focus for several Tallahassee Collegiate Academy students"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This Spring, students at Tallahassee Collegiate Academy, a charter STEM high school on the Tallahassee Community College campus, participated in the first and second rounds of a national contest called Poetry Out Loud.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Poetry Out Loud Program<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n
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Tallahassee Collegiate Academy participants in the 2024 Poetry Out Loud Competition on January 23, 2024. Back row: (left to right): Sarah Methellus, Carmen Diaz, Lian Rodgers, Samantha Aguazul-Gonzalez, Shiloh Pipkin; Front row: (left to right) : Kage Groundwater, Malik Rollins, Melody King, Emory Buning, Esinam Agama, Daily Forsman (Photo by Jessica Chapman, Principal at TCA)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Poetry Out Loud<\/a>, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Poetry Foundation<\/a>, works with schools across the country to \u201cencourage the study of great poetry.\u201d Their website says the program not only provides free educational materials to schools but also works to help students master public speaking skills. In the competition, students recite poems with dramatic interpretation. After the local level competitions, students head to the state and then the national competition. There are cash prizes starting at the state level and the national winner receives a $20,000 prize. Since its beginning in 2005, the program says it has reached 4.2 million students, 72,000 teachers, and worked with 18,000 schools in every state plus the U.S. Territories.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Winners of the TCA Poetry Out Loud Competition; (Left to Right) Melody King, Sarah Methellus, and Esinam Agama.(Photo by Jessica Chapman, Principal at TCA)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

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Local TCA students shine<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The first round at Tallahassee Collegiate Academy on January 23, 2024, brought together eleven students to compete at the TCC Fine and Performing Arts Center. Sarah Methellus won first place for a poem by FSU Professor David Kirby called \u201cBroken Promises.<\/a>\u201d Melody King came in second with her recitation of a poem called \u201cWhat Women are Made of\u201d by Bianca Lynne Spriggs<\/a>. In third place was Esinam Agama who recited \u201cAfter the Winter\u201d by Claude McKay.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The top three students took an afternoon at WFSU Public Media to repeat their performances in front of our studio cameras. Watch their recitations below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sarah Methellus recites David Kirby’s poem “Broken Promises.” <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n