Written By: Delaney Cordes, Staff Writer
POTLIGHT: The juniors class’ SLAM poem competition in the Little Theater at Poly
(SEE FULL SLAM POEM COMPETITION BELOW)
Since 2011, Poly High School has hosted a yearly SLAM competition where the junior class students each write, memorize and recite poems about the topic of their choice. This event starts with the creation of the poems which the students must perform in front of their English classes. From there, teachers select their favorites to move on to the competition in the Little Theater on campus. As students are performing, Poly alumni judges listen and score each poem based on creativity, performance, memorization, and the connection it has on the audience.
When the SLAM poem assignment was announced and creativity was billowing in each junior student, they had to create a poem that wowed the teachers, audience, and judges. Not only did their work have to contain charisma, it had to meet the time limit between a minute and thirty seconds to three minutes. This year, 78 finalists moved on and captured that awe to continue on to the theater. There were 50 soloists, 11 duos, and 2 groups that qualified for the finals.
After all the performances, the top scores in the soloist category moved on to the next round of competition – the SLAM off. which is the next round of the competition. The SLAM off finalists were: Ivan Aguilar-Moreno, Vicktor Duffy, Maxim Strong, Morgan Bellman, and Kory Dodson. Each performed their poems for the judges a second time to determine the ultimate winner At the very end of the competition, all the winners were announced.
The duo winners were Aaron Cuellar and Nick Baciuna. For the group category winners, Frida Blass, Emily Herrera, and Sydney Katzenstein took first. For the soloists, Vicktor Duffy took third, Morgan Bellman claimed second, and Kory Dodson’s poem “Be a Man” won him the title of first place.
Kory Dodson Morgan Bellman Vicktor Duffy
Sydney Katzenstein, Emily Herrera, Frida Blass Nick Baciuna and Aaron Cuellar
Excellent job, SLAM participants. See above for the full competition on Youtube. Below is the list of students that performed and competed in the 2024 SLAM poem competition in the theater and their poem titles:
Duos:
| Silvas, Ava (3) &Morales, Melannie (2) | The Case of the Munchies |
| Baciuna, Nick (1)Aaron Cuellar (2) | A Somnambulant Soliloquy |
| Tijerina, KimberlyRosas, Maura | Sleep |
| Lucero, Madison (5)Rodillas, Kyle | What do you want to eat? |
| Kaya Harris,Fiona Harner | “Remember” |
| Julian, Connor (3) &Julian, Isaac (5) | The Assimilation of Fraternal Twins |
| Li, VivianMedina, Ameli (Allie) | Honey or Money |
| Soto, Ariana (2) &Soto, Bella (3) | Twins |
| Christophe Wong Ah SunBrysen (Bryse) Norris | Sour Cream |
| Bozorgi, Liana (5) &Mejia, Carolina (5) | Numbers |
| Lewis, Nadia (1) &Cioffi, Nadia (1) | Nadia X2 |
Groups:
| Blass, FridaKatzenstein, SydneyHerrera, Emily | I’m Not a Poet; I’m Just a Girl |
| Cordoza, AubreyBauder, GraceDuncan, Jordana | The Wintertime Feeling |
Solos:
| Aguilar-Moreno, Ivan | Bitten by a You Know What |
| Allen, Sarah | “What You Couldn’t” |
| Archibald, Hannah | Oh Diet Coke |
| Atkinson, Lars | The Weird Kid Exists, But He Doesn’t Do it For You |
| Barnard, Carly | “The Youngest” |
| Bellman, Morgan | “You are the Person” |
| Bonzoumet, Sam | “Don’t Forget N.U.T.” |
| Buan, Xiomata | My Favorite Color |
| Cassidy, Kaleigh | “The Girl with the Hearing Aids” |
| Cifuentes, Heyssel | Transition |
| Cline, Giselle | Kickball |
| Decker, Brooke | “How am I Perceived?” |
| DeLaFuente, Cruz | Life’s Hardest Blow |
| Dodson, Kory | Be a Man |
| Duffy, Vicktor | Dear You, (I Hope I am not Being too Forward) |
| Duncan, Madison | False Confidence |
| Escano, Haile | “No Ink” |
| Evans-Lee, Peyton | Do it When it Counts |
| Gamboa, Aryanna | Fantasy |
| Geiger, Juliana | Burnout |
| Gomez, Alina | When Will Pink Be History? |
| Grigsby, Reagan | What a Shame |
| Grissom, Myla | Ode to Timothy |
| Hazelton, Emerson | A Common Occurrence |
| Hernandez, Adam | “Calories” |
| Holmes, Cora | Lemonade |
| Hoon, Raquel | The Dog |
| Hudson, Harlynn | You’re my Favorite Flower |
| Hyatt, Russell | Transfiguration |
| Jones, Madison | Spiraling Down the Rabbit Hole |
| Kats, Arabella | Echoes |
| Lara, Leah | Forgetful |
| Mason, Lorelei | Believe in Miracles |
| Mercadefe, Alexis | The Ability to be Carefree |
| Metzger, Reagan | April 2nd |
| Miles, Brooklyn | Eyes Forward |
| Milligan, Michelle | Raised in a Bottle |
| Nolasco, Nantania | Our Mistake |
| Packer, Aubrey | I Can’t Seem to Let You Go |
| Racz, Zoey | Sing Me a Lullaby |
| Ruelas-Aleman, Dulce | La Nena |
| Scott, Abygael | I’m 17 |
| Silvero, Almendra | Without You |
| Strong, Maxim | How Does One Make Friends? |
| Sullivan, Beckett | Memories |
| Warren, Selina (Olive) | “The Funhouse Mirrors” |
| Wasseerman, Jack | I Hate You Because… |
| Weems, Owen | The American Dream – Are We Really Free? |
| Williams, Kameron | The Struggle for Survival |
| Young, Ella | The one-eyed, three-legged cat, that is definitely very silly |