Poetry Out Loud with Wilmene Hercule

Wilmene Hercule, 14, prepares for and competes in the Mass. State finals of the Poetry Out Loud competition. She is a freshman at PHA in Cambridge.

The PHA middle school 7/8 poetry slam is MAY 22nd .



Prospect Hill Academy High School Freshman wins Massachusetts Poetry Out Loud Contest
Posted at main website http://www.prospecthillacademy.org/news/ 3.10.09

After an amazing day of competition, Prospect Hill Academy High School Freshman Wilmene Hercule emerged as the clear winner of the 2009 Massachusetts Poetry Out Loud championship. She received a $750 scholarship from the Massachusetts Cultural Council for her win, as well as an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C. to compete in the National Finals on April 27th and 28th.

Over 10,000 students from 61 schools across the state competed this year. First, participating schools held school-wide competitions to select a winner they would then send to the State Semifinal competition on February 28. The 20 top students from the Semifinals continued to compete on March 8 at the State Finals to win a chance to participate in the National Poetry Out Loud Finals in Washington, D.C.

Wilmene's win is a credit to her talent and hard work, as well as to the dedication of her family, friends, and teachers who helped her to prepare for this competition. As every participant, she prepared three poems to perform. As a testament to her commitment and confidence, Wilmene selected the following poems, all challenging and sophisticated: "Sympathy" by Paul Laurence Dunbar, "a song in the front yard," by Gwendolyn Brooks, and "Walking down Park" by Nikki Giovanni.