From left are Righetti High School students Lucas Hsiung, Samantha McDonald with Tulia (guide dog In training), Natalie Lancor and Krissy Kurth, an English teacher at the Santa Maria school. Lucas, Samantha and Natalie competed at the 2023 Poetry Out Loud Regional Competition, where Lucas earned first place.
State competition is ahead for Righetti High School’s Lucas Hsiung, who won first place in the 2023 Poetry Out Loud Regional Competition for Santa Barbara County.
Two other Righetti students — sophomore Samantha McDonald and junior Natalie Lancor — also recited poems to compete at last week’s event at the Santa Barbara County Administration Building in Santa Barbara.
Lucas, who’s a junior at the Santa Maria school, recited “Invictus” by William Ernest Henley.
“Participating in the competition was an awesome experience,’’ said Lucas, who also won a new iPad. “I’m very glad I did it, and I’d like to encourage others to do it as well!”
Righetti Reading Specialist and English Teacher Kristen Kurth described Lucas’’ performance as, “amazing, powerful and moving.’’
“Lucas is an 11th-grade, 4.0+ student on the varsity swim team, but he has never done anything like this in his life,’’ Ms. Kurth added. “He gained an interest in poetry after the poetry writing and recitation assignments in Honors English during his sophomore year, but he never thought it would lead to anything outside of his class assignments.
“Now his confidence in public speaking is soaring, and he is about to compete at the state level for Poetry Out Loud! I met his parents for the first-time last night, and they were shocked because they had never witnessed their son perform in anything but sporting events!
“I love when our students surprise their parents in positive ways!’’
— Dave Mason
