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The Student News Site of Laguna Blanca School

The Fourth Estate

The Student News Site of Laguna Blanca School

The Fourth Estate

Camila Lemere Wins County Poetry Out Loud Contest

Camila+Lemere+Wins+County+Poetry+Out+Loud+Contest

 

Tonight, I read about Descartes’/ grand courage to doubt everything/ except his own miraculous existence/ and I feel so distinct/ from the wounded man lying on the concrete/ I am ashamed.” These words from Garrett Hongo’s poem, “The Legend” were recited by Camila Lemere and are her favorite lines from the poem.

After being selected from the Poetry Out Loud Assembly on Wednesday Feb. 10 where sixteen students from the 10th and 12th grade recited poems chosen in Bojana Hill’s classes in front of the upper school, five students were selected to go onto the Santa Barbara County Poetry Out Loud Competition held on Feb. 11 in the County Administration Building. Poetry Out Loud is “a national arts education program that encourages the study of great poetry by offering educational materials and a dynamic recitation competition in high schools across the country.”

The students who ended up attending the county competition were sophomores Camila Lemere and Carina Tedesco as well as senior Isaac Baron. Camila recited “The Legend” by Garrett Hongo, Carina recited “War Widow” by Chris Abani, and Isaac recited “To the Notebook Kid” by Eve L. Ewing. The other schools attending the competition this year were Dos Pueblos, Carpinteria High School, Laguna Blanca School, Orcutt Academy High School, and Pioneer Valley High School.

After all of the recitation portion of the evening was complete, the reciters and audience members proceeded into a reception room with snacks and refreshments to wait for the results of the competition. After fifteen minutes or so everyone came back to the main recitation area and the second place and first place winner were announced: Isabella Melsheimer from Orcutt Academy was the runner up and Camila took first place.

With having won the County Competition, Camila will be going to the state competition in Sacramento on Feb. 28 and 29. In order to prepare for the next level, Camila has had to select two more poems; the poems she chose were “Novel” by Arthur Rimbaud and “Every Single Day” by John Straley. When asked why she selected “The Legend”  to be recited for Poetry Out Loud, Camila answered, “I chose ‘The Legend’ by Garrett Hongo as my poem because of its clarity and moving message.  I wanted to pick a poem that would make sense to the audience — something they could connect to. I know from personal experience that it’s difficult to connect with a poem that you don’t understand, so that definitely played a huge role in my selection process. The message that “The Legend” sends forth is also one that is very emotional and it really touched me the moment I read it for the first time.”

The next level, if she wins the state competition, would be to go on to represent California in the national competition. What comes with winning state is receiving a $200 cash prize and an all expense paid trip to Washington, D.C for the May 2-4 national finals.

When asked about the moment she learned that she had won county, Camila said, “I was sitting next to Kathryn and Clare right before they announced the first place winner, and I remember thinking, ‘Wow wouldn’t it be super cool if she said my name right now?! That would be awesome.’ And then she said it! She said my name! I was really confused at first and it didn’t make any sense.  It still doesn’t really make sense! I remember my jaw dropping and yelling ‘Oh my god! What?!’ I was totally taken by surprise, but also completely overjoyed and grateful.  My hands were shaking because I was so nervous and in shock!  It was really a great moment.”

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Camila Lemere Wins County Poetry Out Loud Contest