The seventh annual Verselandia! featured 21 students from 12 different schools competing for glory in the city-wide high school poetry slam at the Schnitz. The audience was our largest (and loudest?) thus far.
Here are the five winners and the schools they represent:
1. Lucinda Drake, Franklin High School
2. Nikole Davis, Grant High School
3. Jolly Wrapper (Joneyo Prom), Jefferson High School
4. Ari Lohr, Wilson High School
5. Kalyn Street, Franklin High School
We want to give a huge shoutout to all the participating students, including the alternate poets and our sacrificial poet from Reynolds High School. Also thanks to our crew, including judges Cindy Williams Gutierrez, Tea Johnson, Dan Sheniak, Rukaiyah Adams, and Jonathan Hill, as well as our timekeeper Ramon Pagan and our math masters Mona Schraer and Mary Rodeback. Anis Mojgani was a fantastic emcee, and we couldn’t do this event without the work of those who run the qualifying slams: Ilsa Bruer and Julie Morris at Benson, Bryan Smith at Cleveland, Sandra Childs at Franklin, Paige Battle at Grant, Leigh Morlock at Jefferson, Jenny Owen and Stephanie Thomas at Lincoln, Nancy Sullivan at Madison, Kiva Liljequist at MLC, Betsy Tighe at Roosevelt, Cassie Lanzas at Wilson, Frank Thomas and Alethea Work at Gresham, and Stuart Levy at Parkrose.
