On Thursday, Feb. 4, a crowd accumulated outside the Black Box, waiting to enter. Students and teachers alike all grabbed a seat, waiting for the event to start. People who could not get a seat stood by the doors, attempting to catch a glimpse of the event. The crowd went silent as English teacher Rebecca Hayden began the show.

Poetry Out Loud took place during X-block, in which 14 students were supposed to compete, but only 12 were able to do so due to absences. Hayden began by introducing the purpose of Poetry Out Loud, explaining the purpose of the four, including Dean Melanee Alexander, Lynne Cohen, and Jenee Ramos. Hayden began the competition by introducing the first performer.

Senior Matteo Cheek began the poetry fest with his performance of “Self Portrait,” by Robert Creeley. In his performance, he stared at the audience in the front row with true emotion. He was followed by freshman Rebecca Downs, who recited “In Just,” by E.E. Cummings.

Senior Alexander Frieden followed, reciting “Old Men Playing Basketball,” by B.H. Fairchild. Frieden vividly described the words of the poet, motioning and bringing the poem to life. While reciting, his distinct changes in tone brought meaning to a seemingly plain story.

Junior Ndaru Kartikangsih emulated Frieden’s method in her rendering of “Curandera” by Pat Mora, and created a similar effect. As she described her hands in the poem, she stared at them, stroking them while bringing the poem to life.

The poetry recitation only seemed to improve as time passed on. Sophomore Karina Lorenzo and freshman Anne Meyer delivered their poems with full emotion as well, emphasizing syllables and passionately making eye contact with the audience.

This upward trend continued with performances by seniors Liam O’Brien and Rosa Stern-Pait, along with freshmen Jack Pierce and Isidora Savic. Senior Ola Soltan stood out with her performance of “On Quitting,” by Edgar Albert Guest, with a quiet, yet powerful voice.The final performance was by Junior Jake Sternlicht with “Football,” by Louis Jenkins, in which he pretended to be a football player, bringing the poem’s narrator alive.

With that, the performances concluded. Hayden announced that the judges would spend approximately three to four minutes to decide on a final victor, and other commendable performances. Yet the actual decision came almost 15 minutes after, showing how close the competition was.

Finally, the victors were decided. Sternlicht came in second place, while seniors Alexander Frieden and Ola Soltan tied for first. One of the two finalists are to take the one spot to head to the next round: Competing in the Huntington Theatre on Sunday, Mar. 13th.