Vernon freshman wins poetry contest

VERNON — Ethan Metz, a freshman at Vernon Township High School, won his school’s Poetry Outloud Competition, beating out 101 others who were vying for the opportunity to recite a poem at the regional contest at the MAYO Performing Arts Center.

Poetry Outloud is a national program that rewards one student each year with a $20,000 scholarship prize. That student will have garnered victory in classroom, school, region, state and finally, a national competition in Washington, D.C.

Students like Ethan Metz memorize and recite a poem, with appropriate enunciation, intonation and understanding. Metz won the schools’ contest by reciting “How I Discovered Poetry” by Marilyn Nelson. Senior C.J. VonEssen was second with his recitation of “Sweet Tooth” by Russell Edson. Dominick Gonzalez and Ted Manning tied for third place. Gonalez recited “Abraham Walks at Midnight” by Vachel Lindsay while Manning recited “Conqueror Worm” by Edgar Allan Poe. All three students received medals.

Guest judges for the VTHS competition included retired chemistry teacher Dee Franklin, who served as accuracy judge, Marge Huhn, recently retired English teacher, George Lightcap, retired English teacher and currently an adjunct professor at Sussex County Community College, and Jean LeBlanc, an assistant professor of English at SCCC and published poet of five books of poetry.