WEB EXCLUSIVE Poetry readings, rap battles, an acapella performance and “promposal” took over Syufy Theatre as Convent and Stuart Hall students gathered this morning for the annual Poetry Festival.

The festival began with the all school winners of last year’s festival, sophomores Ari Levine and Lance Tam, reading Mary Oliver’s poem “Song of the Builders,” and ended with the announcements of this year’s grade and all school winners.

“I was really in disbelief when they called my name,” sophomore Isabella Parmenter, who won first place for her grade, said. “I thought that I could never win. My poem, which was only four lines long, was just about an ordinary moment in a road trip I had taken with my family.”

The festival also featured guest poets and outside judges including Stuart Hall for Boys’ English teacher Dennis Estrada and former Stuart Hall student Desmond Abrams. Both Estrada and Abrams performed their own poetry, acting as inspirations for students according to sophomore Nyxa Aquino-Thomas.

“I feel like the guests who spoke today were a great influence for the hidden writers in the audience who have not yet explored poetry and spoken word,” sophomore Nyxa Aquino-Thomas said. “It was such a great opportunity to hear poetry from younger and older artists both speaking from different perspectives.”

Poem themes spanned from expressions of love to controversial opinions, and each poem brought its own message to the audience, according to junior Kiki Apple.

“What gave me the inspiration to write my poem was hearing everyone’s experiences and realizing that a lot of us have the same problems in our community,” Apple, who wrote about the controversy between the International Baccalaureate programme and AP courses, said. “I think that in order to make the students in the two programs have a better experience we need someone to stand up and say what needs to be said.”

The all-school winner was freshman Tabitha Parent. Freshmen winners include Lola Morrell in first place, Jacqueline Guevara in second place and Marisa Donovan in third place. Sophomore winners include Isabella Parmenter in first place, Elsa Hagstrom in second place and Brooke Wilson in third place. Junior winners include Samantha Stovell in first place, Sydney Marquez in second place and Kiki Apple in third place. Senior winners include Jasper Conacher in first place, Kelly Rosanelli in second place and Natalie Lunbeck in third place.