Celebrating The Beauty of Poetry │ Lourdes and Belen’s NEHS Poetry Night

Stephania Lopez, Web Editor|February 22, 2022

The NEHS Team
Mia Michele Aviles
The NEHS board from both Belen and Lourdes worked tiredlessly for weeks in order to make this event one to remember.
Posters were advertised for utmost participation from both classes, where all proceeds from the event would be donated to Great Heights Academy. (Mia Michele Aviles)

On Tuesday, February 15th, the National English Honor Society chapters at Belen Jesuit and Lourdes Academy collaborated to host their first Poetry Night, where students from the junior and senior class shared their favorite poems and even self-written ones to shed light on the beauty behind the written word.

“It was amazing,” senior Margaux Courtney said. “Everyone who recited poetry, let it be personal ones or their favorites, did great!”

The event was created by students, for students, and allowed for participants and audience members alike to dive into their inner-poet.

“I’ve written poetry before, and I think the poetry I write now has so much more meaning for me,” junior Amanda Nichole Rodriguez said. “I saw the upcoming event and knew that this was something I wanted to do.”

Students were encouraged to bring a gently used or new book to support the Children’s Trust Book Drive, and all proceeds collected from the entrances fees were donated to Great Heights Academy’s upcoming prom.

“It was great to see we could have a fun time listening to others’ poems and renditions of famous work while helping a great cause,” senior Valeria Tani said.

Students from the junior and senior classes at Belen and Lourdes shared poetry on February 15th. (Mia Michele Aviles)

Participants and their poems ranged from original work like Lourdes junior Massima Ponce’s “Ocean Psyche” to Belen seniors Jorge Mesa and Carlos Morales’ short rendition of “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish” by Dr. Suess.

 

“We wanted to make it more playful and thought of a children’s book like Dr. Suess,” senior Jorge Mesa said. “This is a book everyone knows, and we thought it was representative of how we can be accepting of others, something we thought was very important.”

Standing in front of over seventy of your peers is never easy, yet students found that when they are genuine with how they feel, it’ll be worth it.

“If you write about things you’re passionate about, it’ll come naturally,” Rodriguez said.

The National English Honor Society at Lourdes and Belen will be hosting a second poetry night during the month of April. Both chapters will be sending out emails in the coming weeks for all those interested in attending and participating, to once again celebrate the beauty of poetry.