(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.
