DOVER—
It started with a glow. By 8 a.m. on Monday, January 11, Cocheco Arts and Technology Academy’s (CATA) common room was aglow with twinkling lights and in readiness for the all-day Poetry Out Loud event. By the glow of hundreds upon hundreds of tiny lights, CATA’s students took to the microphone one by one to recite a poem or lyric in a decidedly coffee house fashion. Following every ten students (give or take), science chair Brett Fletcher would get everybody up and moving to stave off restlessness and nerves, oftentimes causing a great deal of hilarity in the process. This morning event was a warm-up for the afternoon’s more serious competition, and it served its purpose well.
By noon, the entire CATA population had migrated to Dover Municipal Building Auditorium for the official Poetry Out Loud competition, featuring fifteen of CATA’s students: Tommy Haas, Emily Hayes, Anastasia Holt, Michelle Johnson, Holly Gabrielle King, Charlotte Lewis, Tasha McCartney, Hiromi Mizu, Joshua Mudgett, Damien Naugle, Colin Nollet, Kael Randall, Melissa Stevens, Tori Trudeau and Chloe White. Their task was to recite and interpret two poems by known poets while being scored based on the official Poetry Out Loud regulations.
A panel of prestigious judges met them there, including Dover Public Library Head Librarian Cathy Beaudoin, Dover Police Chief Anthony Colarusso, former N.H. Poet Laureate Marie Harris, educator-writer-traveler Ralph Montgomery, Dover’s Mayor Scott Myers, Dover Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Kirt Schuman, actor Michael Walsh, State Representative, Strafford County Commissioner and Rochester School Board Chair Bob Watson, and beat poet Beau Williams. In addition, there were scoring judges Don Cichon and Christine Luthi, and accuracy judges Megan Karas and Meghan Samson.
The winner of CATA’s 2010 Poetry Out Loud competition, sponsored by River Run Bookstore of Portsmouth, is senior Melissa Stevens, who will be attending Gordon College in the fall. She will go on to the regional semi-final competition early on Monday, March 8 at Southern N.H. University. The alternate (second place) is Anastasia Holt, a junior. They both received certificates of award, and both are offered a $15,000 renewable scholarship from New England College and up to $10,000 from Southern New Hampshire University.
English teacher Beth Allard spearheaded the entire Poetry Out Loud event, as she has for the past few years. Without her commitment to connecting CATA’s students with this and other incredible opportunities (including a recent collaboration with the Children’s Museum for a book reading featuring original works by CATA students), it likely wouldn’t have taken place. We are so grateful for her continued motivation in making Dover part of CATA’s classroom system. We also wish to acknowledge Cynthia Dubois, Rodger Martin and Catherine O’Brien of the N.H. State Council on the Arts, as well as Frost Place in Franconia, for awarding scholarships to teachers to attend the conference on Poetry and Teaching, which Mrs. Allard was able to attend on a full scholarship for two years, and a partial scholarship another year.
Photo caption: CATA Director Christy Cloutier Holmes awards Melissa Stevens the winning certificate. (Courtesy photo)
It started with a glow. By 8 a.m. on Monday, January 11, Cocheco Arts and Technology Academy’s (CATA) common room was aglow with twinkling lights and in readiness for the all-day Poetry Out Loud event. By the glow of hundreds upon hundreds of tiny lights, CATA’s students took to the microphone one by one to recite a poem or lyric in a decidedly coffee house fashion. Following every ten students (give or take), science chair Brett Fletcher would get everybody up and moving to stave off restlessness and nerves, oftentimes causing a great deal of hilarity in the process. This morning event was a warm-up for the afternoon’s more serious competition, and it served its purpose well.
By noon, the entire CATA population had migrated to Dover Municipal Building Auditorium for the official Poetry Out Loud competition, featuring fifteen of CATA’s students: Tommy Haas, Emily Hayes, Anastasia Holt, Michelle Johnson, Holly Gabrielle King, Charlotte Lewis, Tasha McCartney, Hiromi Mizu, Joshua Mudgett, Damien Naugle, Colin Nollet, Kael Randall, Melissa Stevens, Tori Trudeau and Chloe White. Their task was to recite and interpret two poems by known poets while being scored based on the official Poetry Out Loud regulations.
A panel of prestigious judges met them there, including Dover Public Library Head Librarian Cathy Beaudoin, Dover Police Chief Anthony Colarusso, former N.H. Poet Laureate Marie Harris, educator-writer-traveler Ralph Montgomery, Dover’s Mayor Scott Myers, Dover Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Kirt Schuman, actor Michael Walsh, State Representative, Strafford County Commissioner and Rochester School Board Chair Bob Watson, and beat poet Beau Williams. In addition, there were scoring judges Don Cichon and Christine Luthi, and accuracy judges Megan Karas and Meghan Samson.
The winner of CATA’s 2010 Poetry Out Loud competition, sponsored by River Run Bookstore of Portsmouth, is senior Melissa Stevens, who will be attending Gordon College in the fall. She will go on to the regional semi-final competition early on Monday, March 8 at Southern N.H. University. The alternate (second place) is Anastasia Holt, a junior. They both received certificates of award, and both are offered a $15,000 renewable scholarship from New England College and up to $10,000 from Southern New Hampshire University.
English teacher Beth Allard spearheaded the entire Poetry Out Loud event, as she has for the past few years. Without her commitment to connecting CATA’s students with this and other incredible opportunities (including a recent collaboration with the Children’s Museum for a book reading featuring original works by CATA students), it likely wouldn’t have taken place. We are so grateful for her continued motivation in making Dover part of CATA’s classroom system. We also wish to acknowledge Cynthia Dubois, Rodger Martin and Catherine O’Brien of the N.H. State Council on the Arts, as well as Frost Place in Franconia, for awarding scholarships to teachers to attend the conference on Poetry and Teaching, which Mrs. Allard was able to attend on a full scholarship for two years, and a partial scholarship another year.
Photo caption: CATA Director Christy Cloutier Holmes awards Melissa Stevens the winning certificate. (Courtesy photo)
