One of the oldest traditions at Poly is the Bearns speaking competition, which has evolved over the years to the 21st century version that was presented as a webinar by 中学 on April 30. 中学 English teachers 劳拉·考德威尔, Allison Corvo, Dr. 罗伯特·阿斯顿, 迈克尔外邦人, 梅林达Lvovsky说, 和 李马库斯, several wearing jaunty berets, served as co-hosts. 技术主管 查尔斯Polizano 也是学生生活主管 亚历克斯·戴维斯 提供技术支持.

劳拉·考德威尔 welcomed the students 和 faculty for the virtual Bearns presentations 和 explained that there would be four students presenting in each of Grades 5-8. Each grade’s presentations were followed by commentary by a teacher from a different grade.

八年级演讲

老师的博士. 罗伯特·阿斯顿 和 Allison Corvo explained that in eighth grade there were two areas of focus: one on performance, 和 the other on the text of the poem. Dr. Aston introduced the first two prerecorded video performances:

Stavroula G. ’25 recited  “Mad Girls Love Song” by Sylvia Plath followed by 利奥米. ’25 presenting “Life is a Dream” by Adam Saroyan.

Corvo said that students could also record a performance or the text of a poem in response to a poem. 她介绍学生 索尼娅·K. ’25 who read a poem by Seamus Heaney, “A Dog Was Crying Tonight in Wicklow.” 和 娜塔莉·T. ’25,  who read a poem “Click by” she wrote in response to a poem “Touchscreen” by Marshall “Soulful” Jones. 

In response to the four presentations, Grade 5 teacher 梅林达Lvovsky说 said she was very impressed with all the work citing how Stavi had synched with the words 和 Leo’s fine elocution. Sonya’s “inflection 和 softness” added to her reading.  在她的回应诗中, Natalie had used repetition to stress “doesn’t it feel good to be loved” in the commentary on social media.

七年级演讲

Teachers 李马库斯 和 劳拉·考德威尔 said the focus in Grade 7 English had been on sense of place, 不同的作者, 还有美丽的诗歌.

卡娅F. ’26 presented “This Body” by Renee Watson, about an African American girl’s  feelings about her skin, 头发, 自然的外观.

伊甸园G. ’26 read “Poem for the Blues Singers” by Sterling Plumpp, with its powerful imagery.

马龙·R. ’26 read  “If We Must Die”  by Claude McKay, a Harlem Renaissance poet. 随后,博士. Aston said that this poem is in the form of a sonnet. The images are “so moving 和 powerful.” Dr. Aston said that Marlon has used the poetry to break the rules of sonnets. 

多子女家庭 登录到父门户 to watch the full 中学 Bearns presentation 和 see all the wonderful recitations.

六年级演讲

Teacher 迈克尔外邦人 explained that Grade 6 had looked at four forms of poetry: sonnets, 俳句, 挽歌, 和常微分方程. He said they looked at the strict rules for these poetry forms 和 how poets break them.

约旦G. ’27 recited “Alone” by Maya Angelou. In her video, Jordan is sitting alone on a couch at home during lockdown.

夏洛特K. ’27 read “Invisible Children” by Mariana Llanos, which has allusions to 爱丽丝梦游仙境 和 哈罗德和紫色蜡笔. In this powerful poem, “children fall through the cracks” because of negligence.

“I Dream A World” by Langston Hughes, was the subject of a video presentation by 安娜贝尔·汤普森，27岁. The background music of “We Shall Overcome” 和 images of BLM marches 和 MLK was “so timely,马库斯说。.

Kailynn H. ’27 presented “We Wear the Mask” by Paul Laurence Dunbar, 也就是说, “Let the world dream otherwise, 我们戴着面具.”

五年级演讲

梅林达Lvovsky说 introduced the Grade 5 presentations. “Some are whimsical 和 some are serious,” she said.

米克瓦. ’28 read “Cat’s Dream” by Pablo Neruda, which paints a picture of how a cat sleeps. 之后, Gentile said he thought it was amazing how Mick was able to find pictures of cats that so closely describe what Neruda is saying in his poem.

In reciting “For the Fallen” by Laurence Binyon, 布赖森年代. ’28 took a British poem about war 和 made it universal by his choice of pictures.

Anissa L. ’28 read “In the Time of Silver Rain” by Langston Hughes, which she illustrated with silver-colored rain 和 flower petals “when spring 和 life renew.”

莱拉D. ’28 展示最后的作品, “My Horse 和 Me” by Kathleen West, 开始, “I love my horse 和 I’ll tell you why…” Gentile said he was glad they ended with a happy poem, which showed a connection between the writer, 他显然很喜欢马, 这首诗.

多子女家庭 登录到父门户 to watch the full 中学 Bearns presentation 和 see all the wonderful recitations.