To celebrate National Poetry Month, English teacher Anne Boemler organized a school-wide assembly on April 15 that invited students and faculty to share poetry in all its forms—serious, silly and performative. From heartfelt recitations to unexpected stand-up routines, the event showcased the many ways poetry and self-expression can take shape.
Boemler’s plan stemmed from her desire to share her love for poetry. “The vision was just for people to have a chance to bring to the school community something they enjoyed,” she said. What followed was a wide-ranging lineup that captured the creativity of the school community.

One of the most unexpected performances came from sophomore Morrow Piper, who entertained the crowd with a series of jokes. Piper, along with friends Miles Vogenthaler, Cormac Graupman, and Brooks Geiger, had been competing in a March Madness bracket challenge, trying to predict the outcomes of the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament. The person with the worst bracket would face a humorous consequence of the loser’s choice—and this year, that honor went to Piper.
“He [Piper] decided that he wanted to perform stand up comedy, but we were supposed to do it at the talent show, but then they canceled the talent show,” said Vogenthaler.

Then came the newsletter assembly announcement, which stated that students were welcome to perform silly poems. It wasn’t the talent show, but it was close enough. Vogenthaler, Graupman and Geiger found a series of jokes for Piper to tell, mixed them up, and gave Piper a list to perform at the assembly.

The audience’s reaction was mixed, according to Vogenthaler. “I think the students and most of the faculty enjoyed it…whenever we’ve talked to any teachers, they said that it was a good example of just using your free speech. Some faculty even said we should do it more often…and I think Morrow had a lot of guts to go out there and perform it,” he said.
Junior Beatrix Rhone largely agreed. “Well, I thought it brought a lot of joy to the room. That was their art, and they shared their art with us,” Rhone said.
“It was an experience,” said junior Roman Farley.

The jokes were not as well received by administrators as by the audience, and resulted in two sessions of detention for Vogenthaler, Piper and the other group members involved.

Another standout—albeit more anticipated—was a recitation by sophomore Sofia Rivera. Rivera is the state champion of Poetry Out Loud, a competition for high school students across the country to share and learn about the art of poetry and improve public speaking skills. In May, Rivera will be headed to nationals in Washington, D.C.
At the assembly, Rivera read “Revenge” by Letitia Elizabeth Landon—one of three poems she has memorized for the upcoming nationals competition. “It’s one of my favorites, because it’s talking of emotion,” Rivera said. The poem is written from the perspective of a woman addressing the man who cheated on her. “She is stating, ‘go, be with your new woman. But I hope you know that you’re being punished more than I ever will be.’” It builds to a pointed conclusion: “Ev’n I could almost pity feel, / For thou art not beloved.”

While competing and being judged at high-level performances might seem daunting, it was presenting in front of her peers that was the more challenging experience for Rivera. “I think it’s honestly much more nerve-wracking to do it in front of the school, because when you’re doing in front of panels of judges and other students, they all know what they’re there for, and they really understand poetry. And when you’re doing it in front of school, I was trying to spark that love within people…I was really just trying to find people who I could connect with,” she said.

For Boemler, seeing students and teachers connect through verse was exactly what she had hoped for. “It’s always really cool to see what’s important to people, what has spoken to them,” said Boemler. If students showed up with open minds and found joy in the experience, that was enough. By all accounts, it was a hit—one she hopes to build on next year.