11 am on Thursday, May 14,  2015 at Kushner High School.

Students are asked to write poems on 2 different topics. The first topic is “color” and the form for this poem is free verse.

The second poem’s topic is “judgement.” For this poem, students are asked to write a poem with a repeating refrain. It can be a line which repeats in each stanza or a stanza itself which is repeated.

Students will be given five minutes to perform both poems.

Students will be judged for their use of language, their adherence to the stated poetic form, their approach to the theme, the quality of their performance, and their overall success at moving the judges and the audience.  Awards will be given to the top four poets.  The judges are published poets, writers and educators.

About the Themes:

Color We live in a world of color, but that does not mean we see the same things. We have our own associations with color. Maybe some of us don’t even see color, but instead live in a monochromatic world. This topic allows the students to explore the texture of the world around them as filtered through color.

Judgement Whether from personal experience or listening to the news about the world around them, students live lives touched by judgement, maybe even buried beneath judgement. Students are asked to consider either a specific experience of judgement or the phenomenon, in general. The poem has to have a repeating refrain which would underscore their particular topic.