In a celebration of words well-written and thoughts well-expressed, 11 students competed in the annual Poetry Out Loud and Speech Competition held in the Marsch Gymnasium. Evaluating the scholars for the evening were three guest judges: Max Kestler, poetry Professor Emeritus of St. Mary’s College with a BA from Boston University and a PhD from Columbia; Greta Friedman, an Adjunct Professor at Notre Dame Law School who earned a BA from Bates College and a law degree from Valparaiso University; and Dean Christakis, a retired high school teacher and current filmmaker and director who earned his Masters’ Degree at Harvard and his PhD at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
The six poetry contestants declaimed two poems apiece for the Poetry Out Loud competition. Students chose a wide variety of topics to declaim, from hope to hometowns, to father’s foibles, to breakfast. Audience members snapped along transfixed, throughout the one-hour competition. Speech finalists delivered original compositions on topics ranging from a multicultural upbringing, to dealing with stress, to how to treat those who love you, to summers and grandma and grandpa’s house. While scores were tabulated, the La Lumiere Concert Choir gave a haunting rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream” from Les Miserables.
When all was said and done, junior Haley Harkness took first place in the Original Speech Competition with her speech entitled “Of Lakes & Ladders.” Her grandparents, the central subject of the speech, were there to cheer her on. Senior Ainesh Shintre was the runner-up with his speech entitled “Wool Sweaters.” His parents, central subjects of the speech, were also in the crowd to witness it. In the Poetry Out Loud competition, sophomore Julie Maberry clinched the very close competition with her powerful declamations of “Breakfast” by Mary Lamb and “Zacuanpapalotls” by Brenda Cardena. Freshman Emily Rohrbach was the runner-up.
“I thought it was a great representation of what happens in the English Department. More so, it was great to see students get so passionate about poetry at such a young age,” said Enrique Galvan, English teacher at La Lumiere. The spectators, after the hour-long event, seemed to concur as they left the Marsch Gym to wander through the chilly rain to their cars. It had been an hour well-spent, an hour of inspiration and celebration.
About La Lumiere School
La Lumiere School is a premier college preparatory boarding and day school located on a spectacular 144-acre campus 25 miles west of South Bend, 8 miles from La Porte, 7 miles from New Buffalo and about an hour southeast of Chicago. Academic excellence characterizes the entire curriculum and helps to prepare its students to attend some of the best colleges in the country including Stanford, Northwestern, Rhode Island School of Design, Notre Dame, Wake Forest, Middlebury, Purdue, Marquette, Indiana, University of Michigan, and the University of Chicago. For additional information, go online to lalumiere.org. La Lumiere School is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States (ISACS) and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement (NCA).
More information about La Lumiere School can be found at lalumiere.org.