Yerington High’s Mari Basaca Fuentes is the Nevada Poetry Out Loud Champion
Yerington High School sophomore Mari Basaca Fuentes, competing with five other students from around the state, won the Nevada Poetry Out Loud state finals at the University of Nevada, Reno, on March 7.
Poetry Out Loud is a national program designed to help students develop confidence and public speaking skills through poetry recitation. They select and perform poems from a curated anthology. Basaca Fuentes read “An Apology” by Julia Ward Howe, 19th century abolitionist and co-founder of the American Woman Suffrage Association (who, by the way, also wrote the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” in 1862).
The poem is not actually an apology. It’s more of a, “Yeah, you might not like my tone if I, a well-bred woman who’s supposed keep her mouth shut, speaks up for human rights, but we all know it was the right thing to do.” Basaca Fuentes absolutely nailed it with her clear, passionate delivery and comfortable stage presence…