May the Odds be Ever in Your Favor!

Seniors, Meghan Corless and Andrew Montalti from Ms. Sirof's class are the victors!

Update: Thank you so much for attending Mepham’s first Poetry Games. The sixteen students who participated as tributes and the modest and dedicated audience made yesterday’s ELITE event an enjoyable one. We had an opportunity to showcase the talents of students who may not always be recognized, and for that, we should be incredibly proud. Additionally, we were able to raise over 600 books for the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization!

Without further ado, below are the results of the first Pirates Poetry Games:

3rd Place = District F. Cooney – Melissa Ponton & Matthew Brown (Freshmen)

2nd Place = District Atkins – Laiba Qurashi (Junior)

AND … DRUM ROLL …….

1st Place = District Sirof – Meghan Corless & Andrew Montalti (Seniors)

Please congratulate all the tributes – we had some incredibly powerful original poems read yesterday!

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In honor of National Poetry Month, Mepham High School and the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District will be hosting its first annual Poetry Games. Inspired by the novel, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, The Poetry Games is an event meant to encourage students to appreciate their love of the spoken word and to prove their district’s poetic prowess to the Capitol.

The Poetry Games will take place in two stages:

Stage one:  School-wide Poetry Games. This competition will determine the male and female tributes who will represent Mepham High School in Bellmore-Merrick’s district-wide Poetry Games. The Pirates Poetry Games will be held after school on Thursday, April 24, 2014 from approximately 2:30-3:30 pm in the auditorium.

 Opening Ceremony:

•  Parading of tributes
• A brief interview will take place to introduce the tributes partaking in the event – includes discussion of literary attire/influences
• Judges will score the opening ceremony on a 0 – 5 point scale based on originality, content, and presentation

1^st Round of the Games: Expression of Knowledge Competition

• Students will take their mark on stage behind desks, tables, or podiums
• Students will respond via a tech tool to five (5) questions that test their prowess with poetry (ex. application, style, definition, poets, etc.)

2^nd Round of the Games: Prepared Poetry Battle

• Students will read an original poem to the audience
• In preparation for this round, students will randomly select an envelope which contains 15 words and a “weapon” of choice, or a poetic technique, to apply in their poem
•   Judges will score the poems on a 0 – 5 point scale based on originality, content, and presentation

3^rd Round of the Games: Book Wars

•  The district which collects the largest number of books to donate to First Book or World Book Night will be awarded points
•  Sponsors:  the audience will act as “sponsors” who will vote via Twitter to give their favorite tributes points toward the final score
• Closing Ceremony: the victors of The Pirates Poetry Games will be announced and awards will be granted (donated by the National English Honor Society)