May 6, 2026
By Aubrey Valente
Staff Writer
Thirty-nine student poets took the mic on April 2 to participate in the 24th Annual Spring Poetry Slam in the media center.
Junior Kiara Rasmussen, who has participated in the Spring Poetry Slams since her freshman year, won first place for her poem, “Top 10%,” in which she explained how striving for academic success has led her to intense stress.
“In the past, getting good grades made me feel proud of myself, but as years passed, it started to feel like a responsibility that I had to keep up alone,” Rasmussen said. “I am not sure when it stopped being my parents’ expectations of me and became expectations for myself, or perhaps it’s a bit of both.”
Rasmussen said she decided to share her poem at the slam after receiving encouragement from junior Lila Pearce-Jaryno, a fellow poetry slam participant.
PHOTOS BY NATALIA HERNANDEZ AND DEBRA OGUNBOWALE Senior Grace Gann, freshman Fanta Ly, freshman Ava LoRusso, junior Adrionna Muraglia and senior Debra Ogunbowale (clockwise from top left) earned honorable mention awards at the 24th Annual Spring Poetry Slam in the media center on April 2.
“I started to work on my poem, and I showed it to my parents, who gave me their feedback and supported me to try my best. They were not thrilled with the idea of me talking about academic pressure, but they said that if that is how I felt, I should express it,” Rasmussen said.
Senior Angel Sammarone, who participated in the Winter Poetry Slam, earned second place for his poem, “A Tribute to Time,” in which he reflected on his football injuries, parents’ divorce and personal growth during high school.
Sammarone said the hardest part of writing his poem was remaining concise.
“There was so much more I wanted to say. I wanted to [mention] some of the teachers who helped me out, made me feel special, but I didn’t have enough room for it,” Sammarone said.
He said he especially appreciated that the poetry slam exposed participants to various perspectives.
“Everyone lives in the same world, but in different versions of life. It was very unique to hear everyone’s stories,” Sammarone said.
Senior Isabella Bartlett, who is a managing editor of The Lighthouse and has participated in LHS’ poetry slams since her freshman year, placed third for her poem, “Time and Thyme Again,” in which she reflected on memories of her father’s cooking.
“I was weaving together how special my memories of his bad meals were and how special memories of his now good meals are. [I tied] that into how I feel about leaving my parents for college and this new chapter of my life,” Bartlett said.
She said it is important for poets to be authentic when sharing their work.
“Everyone lives in the same world, but in different versions of life. It was very unique to hear everyone’s stories.”
“When you’re performing poetry, it should be something that is raw and real. I didn’t necessarily rehearse too much. I just got myself familiar with the poem and how I felt like saying it,” Bartlett said. “I’m very comfortable talking in front of people, so I definitely think that helped.”
English teacher Ms. Cappiello, one of four faculty judges, said being a judge is an honor and a responsibility.
“It’s a privilege to be there and to be trusted with this job of judging students who are taking this huge risk to stand up in front of their peers and oftentimes talk about topics that are intimate and may be difficult to talk about,” Cappiello said.
She said the hardest part of judging is selecting the winners.
“Every person who gets up there deserves to be recognized, and the most difficult aspect is narrowing it down to the top three,” Cappiello said.
She said she encourages students to participate in LHS’ poetry slams.
“Whether you stutter, whether you don’t think you enunciated or whether you don’t think you spoke loudly enough, just keep getting up there and doing it,” Cappiello said. “For anyone that’s interested, they should definitely give it a try.”
