Lincoln High wins state slam poetry title

A team of student poets from Lincoln High School recently won the state championship in the Louder than a Bomb competition, a national program that brings together students to create and share original performance poetry.

The Louder than a Bomb state event was held April 24 at the Holland Performing Arts Center in Omaha. Lincoln High also won the competition in 2013 and 2014.

The students who performed at the state finals were Jack Buchanan, Erica Leon, Anthony Delaney, Joanna Calel, Karina Hinkley and Samanta Roblyer. Also on the slam poetry team this year were Jasmine Amaya, Helen Newell, Alex Vodraska and Riley Fedderson, along with alternate Shayla Sadowski. LHS English teacher Deborah McGinn is the team's coach.

The students worked with poets from the Nebraska Writers Collective for eight months to write and refine their poems. They performed at school and community events before the state finals and prior to that the state semifinal competition April 16-17 at Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha.

Lincoln East High School also advanced to the state finals, finishing fourth, while a team from Schoo Middle School performed at the semifinal event.

---