Every Year, Stratford has a Poetry Out Loud Competition where students can recite poems in order to advance further into the competition. Students try to advance all the way to the national level, in which if they win the annual competition, they earn $10,000. This year 12 students competed and this year’s winner was freshman Anna Katherine Katz. 

Anna Katherine was excited she won the school wide competition. She did lots of hard work to prepare for the competition and it paid off.

“It was insane for me to win. I didn’t think I would win as a freshman,” she said. “It was very surprising as well, since public speaking isn’t my thing.”

 She recited a poem entitled “To Myself,” which was written by Franz Wright. She thought the poem meant a lot to her personally because she thought the idea of this poem was very similar to the life she experiences. She generally isn’t into poetry that much,  but she will recite poems that have a strong connection with her. 

“Poetry isn’t something I’m into in general. The poem I recited though meant a lot to me. It was very touching for me,” Ann Katherine said. 

Anna Katherine is working hard to prepare for the next competitions in Poetry Out Loud. She is very eager to see what will happen in the future regarding the Poetry Out Loud competitions. 

“I am very excited about what’s to come. Even if I don’t get far into the competition this year, I still have three more years to go,” she said. 

Anna Katherine is excited about what will happen in the future, regarding Poetry Out Loud, but she would be shocked if she went all the way to the National Competition as a freshman.

“I would be stunned and incredibly proud of myself if I get that far into the competition,” she said. 

If Anna Katherine, however, doesn’t win one of the upcoming competitions, she will work harder the next three years in order to do better and better.

“I probably will do Poetry Out Loud the next few years. I was very lucky that I found the poem that I read this year because I connected to it very easily, so it wasn’t hard to perform,” she said.

Anna Katherine isn’t the person who likes to do public speaking, however, Poetry Out Loud is a way for her to get out of her comfort zone and read poems that have a personal connection with her.

“Poetry Out Loud gives me an opportunity to get out of my comfort zone, since I don’t like public speaking,” she said. “I just like to read poems that have a connection to me personally.”