(Camden, NJ—April 18, 2015) A dozen High Tech students versed in verse showed off their originality at Rutgers University-Camden, winning the first two bouts, the semi-final round, and earning a perfect score of 150 to win first place in the Louder Than A Bomb Youth Poetry Slam, announced Dr. Joseph Giammarella, Principal of High Tech High School.
High Tech, the only North Jersey high school represented at the event, competed with eight other high schools, most of which hailed from South Jersey. A two-day event held on the weekend of April 18th, Louder Than A Bomb featured the following students from High Tech: Brianna Kelly of Bayonne; Jersey City residents Jaelan Acosta, Edsel Engalla, Sade Ford, Ashley Johnson, Fatmata Kamara, Hamza Quresh, and Benjamin Vock; Devon Vaz of Kearny; North Bergen resident Jeanette Fernandez; Aaleah Oliver of Secaucus; and Union City resident Sabrina Quinones.
Highlights include “How to Win a Grammy,” a piece written and performed by Vock, Ford, Quresh, and Kamara, a parody on cultural appropriation and the disproportionate winners of color as opposed to others; “Break News: Perspectives on Violence,” written and performed by Engalla, Oliver, Acosta, Fernandez, Kelly, and Quinones, a piece that critiques police brutality against black males.
Having just completed its 15th season, Louder Than A Bomb lays claim to being “the largest youth poetry festival in the world,” according to its website. Originating in Chicago, this latest held at Rutgers University-Camden, and sponsored by the university as well, featured over 100 students in the competition. Lamont Dixon of Atco, New Jersey, organized the event to celebrate National Poetry Month.