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On April 3, the English and Library Department hosted its annual Poetry Night in celebration of the start of National Poetry Month, as well as to shine a spotlight on the poets and performers of New Hyde Park Memorial High School. Not only was the event dedicated to poetry, but also various musical styles, showcasing art and the varying ways of expressing creativity.
“For me, poetry is definitely just a type of writing where people are able to express themselves in the form of metaphors. It allows me to express myself without sharing specific parts of my life,” seventh grader Mia Segura said.
National Poetry Month is an annual celebration, recognized every year in the month of April. It was created by the Academy of American Poets in 1996 to emphasize the importance of poetry in literature and culture, remember and support poets and encourage reading and writing expressively through the form of poems.
“[Poetry] is different from formal essay writing and the fact that it leads to freedom of expression, and a way that is not usually the norm in the classroom setting,” English teacher Mrs. Kaspar said. “It allows people to brainstorm freely about different topics that are important to them, that sometimes they might not be willing to share, but if given the opportunity, they dig a little deeper to find out what’s really going on in their own world.”
To start off the night, students received notebooks along with colored pencils, and were encouraged to write freely and observe the event’s artwork. All participants also received raffle tickets to possibly win a stuffed llama. The night was accompanied by an ensemble of string players directed by Ms. Tomkiw as well as a solo piano performance by senior Clayton Yu.
Afterwards, musicians, singers and poetry reciters were broken into groups for several rounds of performance. Between each round students partook in games and activities, including trivia, blackout poetry and guess who wrote the phrase.
“Poetry Night was definitely very eventful, it was exciting yet also very nerve wracking,” Segura said. “It caused a lot of anxiety reading my poem but it was definitely a very fun night.”
“We were performing a song from a musical called ‘Epic: The Musical,’ which is based on ‘The Odyssey’ by Homer,” seventh grade student Ashton Salen said. “We were kind of anxious to go since most of the school was there. But personally I think we were pretty good and we didn’t have a lot of problems while performing.”
This year’s Poetry Night was considered another success by both the staff who attended and the students who had a chance to join in on the festivities.
“Poetry Night went very well! During the event, we had a ton of eager volunteers from NEHS and it made all the difference,” NEHS President Deborah Aderibigbe said. “In addition to the evening already being filled with fun games, meaningful poems, and amazing performances, the people that came made everything even more enjoyable. So many students also told me that they had a great time, so overall I think it was pretty successful!”
“We celebrate Poetry Month through the English classes, and it’s really meant to be less of a curricular sort of thing; it’s meant to be more a celebration of creativity and community,” English department chairperson Dr. Otton said. “I think Poetry Night is a good example of that where everyone comes together, and we have music and artwork, and people willing to read their poetry or support those reading poems, and we have other people who come just for the free pizza—which isn’t a bad reason to show up somewhere. It’s really just about coming together to forge shared bonds of expression and talent in the building. It’s just a reminder of how fortunate we are to be in a community of very talented, thoughtful people.”
