By: Aayan Azfar 

This past month, High School East has held its first ever Poetry Out Loud! competition with the hopes of many more to come. 

Poetry Out Loud! is a national competition that requires students to memorize and recite poems while also teaching skills such as public speaking and self confidence. This year, four contestants competed for two spots in the regional competition which will take place on February 26 at Stony Brook University. The two students who will be attending this competition are Annabelle Deaner and Blake Rabinowitz. The Poetry Out Loud! club is a new club at High School East that attempts to spread poetry in the community by teaching how poetry is seen in our lives. 

The competition was very exciting not only for the participants but everyone else in the room as all the contestants were well versed and excited to be there. With the success of the competition this year, the club and school community are very excited to see not only how well the participants do at the regional and hopefully national competitions, but also for future competitions at High School East for years to come.