Senior School Verse and Prose Competition Is Poetry to the Ears and Eyes

Most people would agree that one of the greatest of human fears is public speaking. Obviously those people forgot to tell the Senior School students at TFS
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On Wednesday, January 27th, students from Levels II through V spent the morning taking turns in front of an imposing panel of judges, giving dramatic recitations from a novel or piece of poetry. These efforts formed TFS’ annual Verse and Prose Competition, now in its 20-something year.

Each student had previously chosen a passage from their own private reading, and prepared their own dramatic recitation. They has also presented in front of their respective English classes, where they were graded by their peers.  Each class then selected one student to represent them at the final competition.

The final competition on January 27th was divided into two groups: Levels II and III, and Levels IV and V. And while those students in Levels II and III were graded on their performance, the Level IV and V students performed for the experience and fun of it all.

Facing them on the judges panel were Jan Wong, parent and journalist, Christina Braid, English and Drama teacher from Crescent School, Atom Egoyan, parent and filmmaker, Nick Butler, alumnus, son of a TFS teacher and filmmaker, Kate Tucker, graduate of a teacher’s college in Australia and daughter of another TFS teacher, and Alan Zrado, alumnus and loyalty program manager.

Each student gave a reading between 2.5 to 3.5 minutes, and was scored on five elements: suitability of choice, intelligibility/audibility/enunciation, independent interpretation, audience engagement and bearing/presence.

The overview comments for the Level II and III competitors were given by Nick Butler, who advised, “Don’t let your body movement get in the way of your voice,” while Atom Egoyan addressed the older students, saying “We would like to see more challenging texts chosen, but in terms of dramatic performance, they were fantastic and some very moving.”

After comparing notes in private, the judges made their final selections. For Levels II and III, the winners were Penny D., first place, Tim A.T., second place, and Riley M., honourable mention. For Levels IV and V, the judges had such a hard time that there was a tie for second place. Rachel L. placed first, while Luke V.T. and Megan L. shared the second spot.

Congratulations to all of the students who made us laugh and think, surprised us and moved us. In the words of judge Jan Wong, “There is nothing like this anywhere else!”