By: Cara McErlean

She stands in the spotlight, staring out at the vast crowd.

“Jeremiah Dickson was a true-blue American, for he was a little boy who understood America…” she begins, carefully keeping her composure. Hundreds of faces stare back, waiting for her next words.

 “…for he felt that he must think about everything,” she continues, letting her voice swell and fall with the emotion of the poem. This is the moment she had been preparing for for weeks.

The words of Delmore Schwartz’s poem “The True Blue American” ring through the walls of the Harrisburg Forum. Paxton Zeis is participating for the first time at the state level of Poetry Out Loud, a nation-wide poetry competition.

“Because that’s all there is to think about…” Zeis exhales. The audience looks back at her, immersed in the patriotic poem. It’s moments like this that made Zeis fall in love with the stage.

Poetry Out Loud is a nationwide organization that engages 9-12 graders in classic poetry through the art of memorization and recitation. Created in 2006 by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation, Poetry Out Loud works with US state art agencies to organize competitions in all 50 states (along with the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico).

The competition process begins with school-wide Poetry Out Loud events. The winners will advance to the regional level, then to states. Each winner at the state level receives a $200 prize, along with a $500 grant to their high school for the purchase of poetry books. State champions will advance to the nation finals in Washington D.C., where they have the opportunity to become the Poetry Out Loud National Champion and win $20,000.

Ever since she was a little kid, Zeis knew she had a flair for the dramatic. But it was not until her sophomore year of high school that she realized the power this drama held.

One mundane morning, Zeis sat in her homeroom, half-listening to the morning announcements on the television. The voices droned on, speaking of canceled soccer practices and picture retakes. Zeis blinked away sleep. But one final announcement caught her ear: Students interested in participating in this year’s Poetry Out Loud Competition should contact Mrs. Silvestri for more information. Huh, thought Zeis, I could do that…

This moment, which seemed inconsequential at the time, turned out to change the course of Zeis’s life forever.

After two weeks of studying, memorizing, and practicing, Zeis stands in front of the crowd at the Hershey Theatre. With her naturally confident air, Zeis begins her first ever poetry recitation. “Ink runs from the corners of my mouth / There is no happiness like mine / I have been eating poetry,” Zeis begins, letting the words transform her into a new character. The audience is struck by the passion of her recitation, and apparently, so are the judges. Zeis wins the school-wide competition, then goes on to win runner-up regionally.

“It reaffirmed that I actually did have a talent for recitation,” Zeis remembers fondly.

Zeis has continued participating in Poetry Out Loud for the past two years. Last year, her victories at the school and regional levels allowed Zeis to advance all the way to the states.

Pennsylvania’s state championship is one of particular importance. PA has been deeply involved in Poetry Out Loud since it’s inception. It was the first state to ensure every high school student the opportunity to compete in Poetry Out Loud by connecting each region with a partner, such as a college arts program or a regional arts foundation. These partners help sponsor each school’s competition and organize the regional events.

Pennsylvania’s statewide competition, Zeis said, was unlike anything she had previously experienced. Nearly 9,000 students from all over Pennsylvania gathered in the Harrisburg Forum, anxiously awaiting their turn to recite.

“The competition was fierce,” Zeis remembers. At the end of the long day, Zeis placed fifth out of the 9,000 competitors.

Poetry recitation was not a skill that Zeis always knew she possessed. Until hearing about Poetry Out Loud on the announcements, Zeis had no interest in poetry whatsoever. In Zeis’ hometown, in the Appalachian region of central Ohio, there weren’t many opportunities in the arts, let alone the obscure art of poetry recitation, Zeis said.

Economically, Appalachia is one of the poorest regions in the United States, with 17% of it’s inhabitants living in poverty, according to the Appalachian Regional Commision.

Due to what her hometown was lacking economically, Zeis said, it was also lacking academically. “There were no opportunities in the arts. The arts were nonexistent, practically.” Poetry and public speaking were never really talked about, Zeis said.

When Zeis moved to Hershey in her freshman year, she quickly took notice of all the many artistic opportunities available in the school and community. The Poetry Out Loud competition acted as a canon that launched Zeis into the arts scene here at Hershey.

Putting her new-found passion for performance to good use, Zeis auditioned for the fall play her sophomore year. Since that first play, Zeis’ love for theatre has grown and shaped her life in ways she never would have imagined.

Zeis went on to land starring roles in last year’s fall and spring plays (The Matchmaker and The Jukebox Diner, respectively), as well a featured role in the musical, Crazy for You. Zeis gained regional recognition when she won the Hershey Theatre Apollo Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play for her role of Dolly Levi in The Matchmaker.

Now in her senior year of high school, Zeis has plans to pursue acting as a career. Zeis wants to continue honing her performance skills by attending college for a degree in theatre.

As her high school years draw to a close, Zeis reflects on the ways her life has changed direction since freshman year. Moving to Hershey opened her life up to the arts, Zeis said.  “If I hadn’t moved here… I might be a farmer,” Zeis said jokingly. “I probably would be going to college for something completely different,” Zeis elaborates, “I would not be going to college for the performing arts.”

Zeis firmly believes that art can change a person’s life. Her love for poetry and theatre changed her life because it changed the career path she wished to take. Zeis said there are many different ways that art may affect one’s life.. For some, it’s a fun hobby. For others, art is incredibly healing. Art can even save lives, Zeis believes. “It brings people out of darkness,” Zeis said.

“Hearing the announcement on the intercom launched the rest of my life, potentially,” Zeis said. “It sounds cheesy, but it could be true.”

Poetry Out Loud State Manager Gayle Cluck is also a strong believer that art, especially poetry recitation, can transform one’s life. As part of her job as State Manager, Cluck travels around Pennsylvania attending regional Poetry Out Loud competitions. During her travels, Cluck is often in awe of the “magical performances” put on by high schoolers.

“For some of the kids, this is the first time they discover their art,” Cluck said, pleased by the interest she sees many students showing for poetry. “You see the lightbulb go off,” Cluck said with a smile.

At the numerous regional competitions she has attended, Cluck has seen poetry move students in very many ways. During one particularly impactful performance, Cluck recalls seeing a mother crying at the back of an auditorium as her daughter recited a poem. The mother told Cluck that she was moved to tears by the fact that her daughter had finally found something she was passionate about. Poetry Out Loud became a supportive community for a student who was struggling to find her place.

In Clucks opinion, it is crucial for students to experience art. Whether it is through music, painting, writing, or poetry recitation, Cluck wants every student to actively create their own personal art. Encouraging students to make art, Cluck says, leads to more engagement in class, higher test scores, better attendance, and stronger personal skills. “Every single kid should be routinely exposed to art-making,” said Cluck.

Hershey High School has been engaging students in art-making through Poetry Out Loud (POL). They hold one of the largest POL events in the state: a school-wide competition held at the Hershey Theatre. Much of Hershey’s involvement in Poetry Out Loud is thanks to Colette Silvestri, Hershey High School’s Gifted Support teacher.

A lover of the arts with a passion for public speaking, Silvestri was determined to keep Poetry Out Loud from being overlooked at HHS. Almost immediately after she started teaching at Hershey, Silvestri began establishing Poetry Out Loud as a school wide event.

The typical school wide competition is a small scale event, usually held in a classroom or school auditorium, but Silvestri was not content with that kind of scaled-down competition. Silvestri felt that this poetry contest should be just as big of an event as any Friday night sports game. After all, “football without the stadium is just a bunch of guys tossing a ball in the backyard,” Silvestri said with a chuckle. Silvestri was able secure the lobby of the Hershey Theatre as Poetry Out Loud’s yearly venue.

With Poetry Out Loud, Silvestri aimed to not only provide an artistic outlet for students but also to develop a community. With the help of dedicated students, Silvestri created a unique event that combines the Poetry Out Loud competition with a the Scottish tradition of “Burns Night.” Burns Night is a Scottish national holiday that celebrates the life and work of prolific Scottish poet Robert Burns.

Hershey’s Burns Night includes a bagpiper and several readings of Robert Burns’ poems, including a group singing of Burns’ Auld Lang Syne. It has also become a custom for every senior to sign a can of haggis, a traditional Scottish food. “It’s a nice way to send them off,” Silvestri said.

This year, five students are set to participate in Hershey’s Poetry Out Loud competition, which is to be held on January 13th at the Hershey Theatre. Seniors Paxton Zeis and Paige Chadwick,  junior Winston Schuyler, and sophomores Brooke Geyes and Molly Reeves, are all preparing poetry recitations.

Silvestri will be coaching these students in the coming weeks to prepare for the competition. She focuses on areas such as interpretation, feeling, clarity, and rhythm. In order to ensure a successful recitation, Silvestri said, “you really have to be trained.”

Zeis in particular has been preparing for the competition by picking out a poem she can connect to and beginning to memorize and interpret it. Zeis looks forward to once again being able to, “step into another person’s shoes,” through her recitation.

These five students choose to participate in Poetry Out Loud for a variety of reasons. Some, such as Chadwick, wish to develop their public speaking skills. Others, like Zeis, have a passion for the performance aspect. But no matter what their reason is, all the participants are brought together by one defining feature: an appreciation for the lost art of poetry recitation.

“Poetry is a lot cooler than most people think,” Zeis said with a grin.