11/2/2012 10:52:00 AMCMSD places first in Poetry Slam!

A boys team from Walton School and a girls team from Michael R. White School finished in first place Thursday night, Nov. 1 in the 9th annual America SCORES Cleveland Poetry SLAM! at Waetjen Auditorium on the Cleveland State campus.

In all, 10 schools from the Cleveland Metropolitan School District entered teams in the competition. The Poetry SLAM! is a signature event for SCORES, a national afterschool program that combines soccer, creative writing and service learning to encourage boys and girls to be engaged students, lead healthier lives and act as agents of change in their communities.

During this year’s competition, roughly 200 “poet-athletes,” as participants are called, took part in the event, a total that’s down from the more than 250 boys and girls who entered the competition last year. Paul Khacherian, executive director of SCORES Cleveland, cited the after effects of Hurricane Sandy for the decrease.

Khacherian, however, saw no decrease in enthusiasm.

“It was fantastic,” he said. “The night is always high energy, so it was great to see these kids come out and perform.” Khacherian also said the vote totals tabulated for the individual performers will be announced shortly.

In addition to the first-place teams, the competition honored second- and third-place finishers in both categories. For the boys, Wade Park School finished second; Buhrer Dual Language, third. For the girls, Walton finished second; Buhrer, third.