First Flight High School came home with first place for the fifth year in a row at Dare County School’s district level competition for Poetry Out Loud Wednesday, Jan. 28.

First Flight High and Manteo High School had three students each in the running. Each student chose two poems to recite at the district competition. First Flight was represented by junior Carla Hardy, senior Isaiah Lewis and freshman Kiersten Lewis. Isaiah, first place winner for the second year in a row at district level, chose The Man with the Hoe by Edwin Markham and The Gaffe by C.K. Williams. Kiersten Lewis, Isaiah’s younger sister, delivered O Carib Isle! by Hart Krane and My Prime Of Youth Is But A Frost Of Cares by Chidiock Tichborne. Carla Hardy, runner up to Isaiah Lewis, performed  Dover Beach by Matthew Arnold and An Introduction to My Anthology by Marvin Bell.

“I was just trying to find the perfect balance of emotions and vocal techniques to make the audience really understand where my poem was coming from and what it was trying to get across,” Kiersten said. “Basically I was just trying to make the audience feel something inside.”

Isaiah will compete at the state level of Poetry Out Loud in Greensboro on March 7. Based on the grueling practice he and his sister used to prepare for the district contest, he should be ready.

“My sister and I practiced for hours to get each of these poems memorized until they became second nature to us. If we missed a line, it meant push ups,” Isaiah said. “Then, we worked our voices and hand motions, to look as authentic as possible when reciting.”

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