Medomak Valley High School sophomore Sadie Smith recites “Hope is the Thing with Feathers” during the Maine Poetry Out Loud regional competition, held at The Public Theater in Lewiston Wednesday, Feb. 7. (Courtesy photo)
Formerly teacher and student and now professional colleagues, Kennebunk High School English teacher Ivy Gardner (left) and Medomak Valley High School English teacher Melissa Barbour meet again at the Maine Poetry Out Loud regional competition in Lewiston Wednesday, Feb. 7. (Courtesy photo)
On Wednesday, Feb 7, Medomak Valley High School sophomore Sadie Smith competed in the Maine Poetry Out Loud regional competition at The Public Theater in Lewiston, and helped complete a circle of love for learning about and reciting poetry.
Smith recited two poems: “After the Winter,” by Claude McKay, and “Hope is the Thing with Feathers,” by Emily Dickinson.
Twelve other participants from other schools recited poems they had chosen.
During the competition, Smith was seated next to the student representing Kennebunk High School. The Kennebunk student’s teacher is Ivy Gardner, a Washington native and a 2010 MVHS graduate. In 2008, when Poetry Out Loud was in its infancy, Melissa Barbour, Gardner’s teacher then and Smith’s teacher now, introduced the program to her English II students.
After 16 years of Poetry Out Loud, Gardner and Barbour met again with a new generation of talented scholars who breathe life into the celebrated poetry of the world.
