Jan. 9, 2026
By Alessandra Ricra
Staff Writer
As snow fell outside, 26 students welcomed winter break by participating in the 16th Annual Winter Poetry Slam in the media center on Dec. 23.
Senior Zahara Chowdhury, editor-in-chief of The Lighthouse, won first place for her poem, “On Daydreams,” in which she reflected on her experiences as a South Asian teenager balancing her Bengali heritage with Western culture.
“I was very inspired by the whiplash I get from… seeing the differences between white culture and my culture,” Chowdhury said. “Society is so focused on white culture, especially in America, so [my poem] reflected the struggles I’ve had with that.”
Chowdhury said she wanted her poem to highlight historical aspects of South Asia that are often overlooked.
“There are always so many that we love, and just getting up there is such a feat.”
“There’s this trope in poetry and writing about South Asian culture, like talking about mango trees or other stereotypes. It was very important to me to shed a different light on this topic… especially for an audience of teenagers who maybe haven’t thought about it before,” Chowdhury said.
She said it was gratifying to receive a first-place award from the panel of four faculty judges.
“I’ve been participating in the poetry slams for the past four years, and I’ve gotten scattered awards like honorable mentions or fourth place last spring, so getting first place this year was definitely a shock,” Chowdhury said. “Receiving such a big award for something I’ve worked so long for was really amazing.”
For a second consecutive year, junior Mariam Selim earned a second-place award. In her poem, “Proud,” Selim addressed the challenges of navigating high expectations and academic pressure.
“It was my first personal poem that I’ve read, so it was a big jump for me to go from being more general to actually opening up and letting people in on what happens behind the scenes,” Selim said. “I was really nervous [to share] something personal… but it was something I wanted to do.”
Selim said her motivation for writing this poem stemmed from her efforts to set reasonable expectations for herself.
“It’s about figuring out that it’s okay not to be perfect and that no one’s perfect,” Selim said.
PHOTOS BY DEBRA OGUNBOWALE AND ALEXANDRA RUIZ Senior Isabella Bartlett, freshman Leah Campos and junior Lila Pearce-Jaryno earned honorable mention awards at the 16th Annual Winter Poetry Slam in the media center on Dec. 23.
Senior Grace Gann, who is new to LHS this year, won third place for her poem, “Still Here,” which she said was influenced by her own struggles with mental health.
“People feel like they’re being a burden or they’re being looked down upon for [their] mental health, but they’re really not,” Gann said.
She said she hopes her poem helped younger students feel supported.
“Since I’m a senior, I wanted to inspire the freshmen, sophomores and juniors [to feel] that it’s okay to go through things and want to talk about it,” Gann said. “Mental health is real, and if you need help, don’t be afraid to ask for it.”
English teacher Ms. Burns, who has been judging LHS’ slams for over a decade, said the hardest part of being a judge is selecting the winning poems.
“There are always so many that we love, and just getting up there is such a feat,” Burns said. “To be able to read something so personal and to look out into an audience of your peers and bear your soul — it’s hard to put numbers and ranks on that.”
Burns said she hopes all participants feel proud of their work and performances.
“They wrote and created something that was uniquely theirs, and they presented it to a large group of people, which is not an easy thing to do,” Burns said. “I want them to take away a sense of pride and accomplishment.”
