Lake County >> Two weeks ago, as he stood on a foreign stage in Sacramento and looked out at a panel of judges and a full house, Oscar Quilala was battling a serious dose of nerves. It was the Poetry Out Loud state competition, and the Clear Lake High School sophomore was in the state capital to perform two poems he’d memorized and rehearsed in the weeks leading up to the event. The pressure was on.
“They dock points off if you even miss one word,” said Quilala.
Poetry Out Loud is a memorization and recitation competition for high school students across the country, intended to teach self-confidence and public speaking skills as well as a greater understanding and appreciation for literary history and contemporary life. Since launching in 2005, the program has grown to include three million students and 50,000 teachers from 10,000 schools nation wide.
The competition begins in the classroom, where students compete for a slot in a school-wide Poetry Out Loud competition. From there the winner goes onto the state event, in the hopes of snagging a slot at the National Finals.
Each state winner receives $200, an all expenses paid trip to Washington, DC for the national competition, and their school receives $500 for the purchase of poetry books. $100 goes to each runner-up at the state level, with $200 going to their school. Every year at the National Finals, a total of $50,000 in awards and school stipends are handed out.
As an advanced drama student at Clear Lake High School, Quilala didn’t have much of a choice when it came to entering Poetry Out Loud. Pam Bradley, the high school’s drama teacher, requires her students to take part in the competition, which she views as an acting exercise more than an English one.
But while Poetry Out Loud may have been part of the curriculum, Quilala didn’t treat it as such. “Like everything else he does, he embraced this project,” Bradley said.
On February 12, Quilala won first place at the Lake County Poetry Out Loud competition, which took place at the Soper Reese Theatre in Lakeport. He went up against his fellow drama classmates, Ashlyn Lesch-Hill, Mia Miller and Nicole Rivera. Bradley stressed that any one of the four students would have done Lake County proud at the state competition, and Quilala was no exception.
“It wouldn’t have mattered which one got picked,” she said. “They all did a fabulous job and they all would have represented Lake County and especially Clear Lake High School very well.”
When he was announced as the winner, Quilala was surprised, but pleased. “I was pretty happy about that,” he said. “I thought that was pretty cool that I got to represent my county.”
Quilala’s classmates were just as enthusiastic about his victory, Bradley said. They witnessed how hard he worked, memorizing his poems before everyone else. When he took to the stage, he didn’t flub a single line.
So when it came to the Sacramento competition, Bradley wasn’t nearly as nervous as her student. “Oscar is only a sophomore in high school but he really approaches everything with such dedication and professionalism,” she said. “I had no doubt in my mind that he would do a great job.”
To prepare for both the local and state competition, Quilala worked with Bradley on delivery and stage presence. She taught her students that the performance didn’t begin with the first line of the poem, but the second they stepped foot on stage. She also urged them not to begin until they were ready. They could stand in front of the microphone and stare at their shoes for a moment or two, taking deep breaths to center themselves. Then finally they could raise their chin and begin.
Quilala and Bradley practiced his interpretation of his chosen poems, focusing on how he should deliver the lines. This was Quilala’s favorite thing about Poetry Out Loud: the freedom he had when it came to his recitation. During the competition, he found himself surprised by the vastly different approaches other students took to their various poems.
Quilala memorized three poems. The first was The Charge of the Light Brigade, which Quilala chose because of a heavy metal song based off the Alfred Lord Tennyson narrative poem. The next two he chose based on the ominous feelings they evoked — Barber by Larry Bradley and All Hallows’ Eve by Dorothea Tanning.
“He really did us proud. It was wonderful,” Bradley said. “Clear Lake High School is real lucky to have him as one of our students.”
Despite appearances, Quilala confessed that he’s not much of a social person. The spotlight makes him uncomfortable. Which was exactly why he was enthusiastic about Poetry Out Loud. He thought it would help him come out of his shell. And for an aspiring film director, having the skills to entertain people is paramount.
While this was the first year Quilala competed in Poetry Out Loud, it won’t be his last. He’s planning to take to the stage again next year, in the hopes that he can make it to the National Finals, and bring home a victory for Lake County and Clear Lake High School.
Jennifer Gruenke can be reached at 900-2019.
