McIntosh’s foreign language department sent 30 students to compete at Clemson University’s 40th annual Declamation (poetry recitation) Contest on Saturday, October 27.
Students competed in French, Latin, and Spanish, each reciting two poems in front of a panel of three judges and one prompter. McIntosh brought home ten medals overall. Freshman Kaitlyn Melvin won 3rd place for Latin 1 and sophomore Kaylee Lloyd won 3rd place for Latin 2. Seniors Diego Cuestas, Joshua Parker, and Ella Trimbach won 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place respectively for Latin 4. Sophomore Imane Mokri won 2nd place in both French 1 and Spanish 3. Juniors Anna Haas and Marguerite Murrell earned 2nd and 3rd places in French 3. Fellow junior Maria McCranie won a 2nd place medal for Spanish 4.
Senior Ella Trimbach did not expect to win this year. She said, “After the [second poem], I thought there’s no way I will place. I had a few choking moments with the second one. I got 3rd place, and I was so surprised I almost fell down the stairs to retrieve the medal.” That hazardous trip down the stairs was the goal of the day for all students present. For the few that received medals, it was proof that hard work and dedication do pay off.
After meeting at the Lafayette Education Center at 6 a.m., the 30 students and two teachers (Ms. Brooke Lloyd and Mr. Lector Zamore) rode on a chartered bus for approximately three hours. They arrived just in time to register for the contest and eat a quick breakfast provided by the university before going their separate ways to meet the judges. From 10 am to lunch, participants practiced not only the pronunciation and diction, but also the performance aspects of their poems with students also in their category before having their “moments to shine” in front of the judges’ panel.
Senior Mattou Mokri returned to Clemson for her second time, this time competing in French 4. She said, “I thought I would be more calm when it came time to say my poem, but when you walk into the judges’ room and they are all looking at you, it gets scary and intimidating.”
Each waiting room held a mix of high school students from Georgia and South Carolina. McIntosh students mingled with familiar faces from Fayette County, Starr’s Mill, and Whitewater High Schools along with students from other high schools around the South and volunteers from Clemson University. Spanish 4 competition participant, junior Sue Liang said, “Being surrounded by people who care equally or more about foreign languages is a very enjoyable and eye-opening experience.”
Once the judging was over, students were allowed to explore Clemson’s campus and eat lunch. McIntosh students opted for the diversity of the Harcombe Dining Hall and the on-campus Chili’s. Following lunch, contestants attended the award ceremony in the auditorium. (Unfortunately, those who chose Chili’s for their lunch missed out on the beginning of the award ceremony because the food arrived so late.) Awards were given for recitation of poems in American Sign Language, Chinese, French, German, Latin, Russian, and Spanish. Native speakers of Chinese, French, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish were also represented at the contest.
