Congratulations to Mid-Pacific junior Jessie Garbeil, who took second place in the statewide finals of the Poetry Out Loud national contest at Tenney Theatre on March 3.

Garbeil, who only got into reading and writing poetry about a year ago, competed in and won a recent Mid-Pacific campus contest and then moved on to the state competition. According to Garbeil , MPSA teacher John Wat helped her find meaning and interesting ways to perform the poems.

She performed Insomnia by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Cartoon Physics, Part 1 by Nick Flynn, and Enough by Suzanne Buffam.

"I am an actor so I think Poetry Out Loud is another way to get involved in acting," she said. "It is very different than performing in a play. You have to avoid giving a recitation and you have to find meaning in the words. It's a bit like a play, but you're not really responding and reacting to what other actors are saying."

Poetry Out Loud is presented in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation and administered in Hawaii by Hawaii Theatre for Youth and the Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts.

Jonathan Johnson, SFCA Executive Director applauded the Poetry Out Loud students' willingness to stand out and be vulnerable in front of an audience. He encouraged the students that the public speaking skills they gain will last them a lifetime.

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