Feb. 29, 2008 — Charlotte Amalie High School sophomore Shawntay Henry is packing her bags and heading to Washington, D.C., having been selected Thursday as the top student in the territory in reciting poetry.
Hundreds of students attending the contest at the Reichhold Center for the Performing Arts leapt to their feet Thursday when V.I. Council on the Arts (VICA) Executive Director Betty Mahoney called Henry’s name, declaring her winner of the Poetry Out Loud contest.
Poetry Out Loud is a national arts education program sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the Poetry Foundation, which partner with state art agencies around the country, and VICA here in the territory. The program works to encourage high school students to learn great poetry through memorization, performance and competition.
This marks the third year of the national contest, and the first year the territory has participated. Local participation began last fall as high school students in public, parochial and private schools around the territory studied and memorized poems, which they recited in classroom competitions that swelled into school-wide competitions, and finally Thursday’s territory-wide contest, drawing 16 finalists from eight schools.
Mahoney told the audience before announcing the contest winner that listening to the students’ recitations moved her deeply. "I had a special experience today, being between tears and laughter and goosebumps. You guys are unbelievable."
The winners from participating states and the territory will converge in nation's capital on April 28 and 29 for the final round, with the champion walking away with $20,000 to be used toward higher education.
"I will do my best to try to bring the title back home," Henry told the crowd in her victory speech, as she worked to contain her excitement and clasped her trophy.
Henry’s teacher, CAHS Honors English teacher Antis Birmingham, said she knew from the get-go that Henry had the qualities needed to prevail in the recitation contest, including poise, confidence, articulation, and an understanding of poetry.
"I told her from day one, ‘Shawntay, you’re going to Washington, D.C.!" said Birmingham, who added that the two of them were in the classroom until after 5 o’clock Wednesday. And the preparations at home were just as intense.
"My mom is my biggest critic and my biggest supporter, and I stayed up with her, late hours, just practicing and going over the same thing, again and again," said Henry, as she finished hugging her mother, Shirma Henry-Georges, following the contest.
Each of the 16 entrants was required to memorize three poems from an anthology selected by the national program. After each competitor read two poems, the three judges narrowed the field to 11 finalists, who then took turns reading a third poem they had memorized.
Henry’s selection was by the 18th Century English poet Mary Robinson, entitled "January 1795" which contrasted the pathos of war with the banality of daily life. Henry’s interpretation morphed seamlessly from a coquettish girl casting her eyes upwards, to contorting her face as she spoke of a hospital, to arching her back and saluting as she impersonated a general, all the time managing to phrase and articulate the poem in a recitation the judges felt was virtually flawless.
"It was a hard competition and they were very good," said Eugene Petersen, manager of St. Croix’s Island Center for the Performing Arts, and one of the contest judges, as he reflected on the finalists. "I think the winner was well deserving. She was very confident."
Thursday’s contest earned Henry a $200 cash prize and her school $500 to be used toward the purchase of poetry books. Runner-up Michele Rivera, a senior from St. Croix Educational Complex, will receive $100 and her school $200. Third place went to Thea Knight, a sophomore at Educational Complex.
The remaining finalists were:
— K’nyshau Cameron, 10th grade, of Ivanna Eudora Kean High School
— La’Kesha Francis, 12th grade, of Educational Complex
— Keeli Fricks, 11th grade, St. Croix Country Day
— Sherica James, 12th grade, St. Croix Seventh Day Adventist School
— Jouvier Pennyfeather, 11th grade, CAHS
— Haba Royer, 11th grade, St. Croix Seventh Day Adventist School
— Rachel Samuel, 12th grade, Kean
— Diondra Setorie, 12th grade, Country Day
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