An annual SWHS tradition is to select a senior to read an original poem at graduation and print that poem in the program. This year, graduating Senior Joey Bemis has been selected as the student poet to read his work aloud.
Bemis says that the poem was originally an assignment from English teacher Terri White – who is also the organizer of the graduation poem contest. He started by brainstorming in class and settled on the idea of using baseball as a metaphor for high school.
“[A baseball game is] rough at first, but as the game goes by, or high school goes by, it gets easier,” Bemis said in an interview with The Prowl.
White says that most graduation poems focus on reflecting about the positive experiences in high school, rather than the negative, and looking forward to the future.
The spin that Bemis puts on first describing the challenges of high school and then how they get better reflects this positive nature.
Before Bemis was selected, a panel of teachers narrowed down all the poems that they received to three candidates. From there, the candidates came in and each read their poems aloud. The panel decided on Bemis to be the one poet to actually read his poem to a crowd.
While the writing element of the graduation poem is a major factor, so is the public speaking element.
“The student poet can be helped to read with greater prowess and make it a great reading to be heard by everyone at the ceremony,” White said. “There’s some skill involved there.”
In the coming weeks before graduation, Bemis will be practicing reading his poem, making sure that he is prepared for the day of graduation.
Though he is a bit nervous to read his poem aloud to a large crowd at graduation, Bemis is excited to share his work.
Graduation will be held at Dunkin Donuts Park, Friday, June 7th at 2pm.
