Battle of the Bards

Lincoln Carpenter, a fourth grader from Archway Cicero, was named the Great Hearts Bard at the annual poetry competition held last week. 12 finalists, comprised of third, fourth, and fifth graders from Great Hearts Arizona lower schools competed for the title, but Lincoln won the judges and the audience over with his recitation of “The Trees are Down” by Charlotte Mew.

Lincoln spoke with Fox 10 in their studio the following morning along with his headmaster, Stephanie Kaye. Kaye told the Arizona Morning show she was a little biased when watching the competition. “But they were all just so moving, and it was a night that we could just enjoy beauty,” said Kaye. “The beauty of the of the spoken human word and the beauty of the poetry.”

Kaye explained that the personality of the performer should not overshadow the poetry, something she believes Lincoln executed perfectly. Lincoln’s big personality did shine through when it was announced that he had won. Lincoln had a large group of family and friends in attendance, including an aunt and uncle who arrived from the airport with luggage in hand just as Lincoln was called to the stage to receive his plaque. You can see his expression on the video as his jaw drops the moment, he made eye contact with them. They were sad they didn’t make it in time to hear his recitation, but it was so serendipitous that they arrived at the Lund Center when they did.

Lincoln said he chose this piece because of the emotion in it. “She’s watching this tree being cut down and I kind of had the same experience.” Lincoln recalled having a tree near his house cut down that he would play on. “We came back a few days later and the tree is gone. It was just so sad.”

He said he has been practicing since January, every day for about 45 minutes, and credits his family for helping him learn the piece and allow him to recite it to them. “My whole family is probably annoyed of hearing it,” said Lincoln with a laugh.

Lincoln communicates with finesse on and off stage. He did admit, however, that he was a bit nervous at the beginning of his piece. “Yeah, my knees buckled, and I was like, ‘Whoa.’ But I said to myself, ‘You got this!’ I say that to myself every time I go up to recite a poem in class.”

One of Lincoln’s duties as this year’s Bard will be sharing his winning recitation at the Annual Great Hearts Gala. “The Bard performance is always an attendee favorite at the Great Hearts Gala,” said Haley Kucharo, one of the organizers for the Gala. “Our families and corporate partners get to see firsthand what Great Hearts means when we say our purpose is to cultivate the minds and hearts of students through the pursuit of Truth, Goodness, and Beauty.”

Fourth grader Eva Kojouharova from Archway Scottsdale was named Bard Runner-up for her recitation of “A Psalm of Life” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. “I think I chose this piece because it had a really meaningful reason for writing it,” explained Eva amongst the roar of the crowd leaving the auditorium after the completion.  Eva also credits her parents for allowing her to practice reciting her piece to them.  Her mother admitted she too had become very familiar with the poem over the last few months.

Megan Bryant, who acted as emcee for the evening, wonderfully captured the gravity of such an event. “I’ve been in this network for 10 years, and I’ve gone to almost every Bard competition for the last decade. Coming from a background in competitive poetry myself on a collegiate and a high school level, I want to just express how special this event is because of who we are as a Great Hearts Network,” said Bryant. “What makes this event special is we get the opportunity to really show off what we mean when we say Beauty. Beauty as we know is an essential part of the human experience.”

“Poetry is uniquely special because it is spoken word and it’s different from other forms of spoken art,” added Bryant. “The job of a Bard is to be a vessel for a poem. To let the poem, and the words, and the author speak through them rather than on behalf of them or for them.”

We want to congratulate all the Bard finalists, our Bard runner-up, our Bard winner, Archway Glendale for hosting this year’s competition, and Veritas Prep for the venue.

Do you have a story or know of a story that you would like to see featured at Great Hearts?  Please contact jmoore@greatheartsamerica.org.