Thalia Muyderman ’17 to Represent Waynflete at Poetry Out Loud

Thalia Muyderman ’17 was selected to represent Waynflete School at the Southern Maine Regional Poetry Out Loud competition in February. She was selected in the school competition held in January with her recitation of the poem “Happiness” by Paisley Rekdal.

Isabel Canning ’17 was selected as the alternate, with her recitation of “I Am Learning To Abandon The World” by Linda Pastan. The school competitors were chosen after classroom contents held throughout the Upper School.

The three judges for Waynflete’s Poetry Out Loud competition ?were Gary Lawless (Maine poet and Gulf of Maine bookstore owner), Abigail Killeen (Bowdoin Theater?and Dance faculty member and actress) and Gibson Fay-LeBlanc, former director of The Telling Room and local writer.  Claudia Hughes (former theater director here are Waynflete, local artist and actor) judged all the ninth grade classroom competitions. Michael Howard, local actor, director and University of New England faculty member, provided a workshop for the ninth grade classes.

Poetry Out Loud is a national poetry recitation contest that was created by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation, and is administered in partnership with the State Arts Agencies of all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. It is a competition that encourages youth to learn about great poetry through memorization and recitation, helping students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence and learn about their literary heritage in the process (www.poetryoutloud.org).

Thalia will have to choose, memorize and perform two additional poems for the Southern Maine Regional competition, slated for February 6 at the Biddeford City Theater (snow date is February 10).