Meet the 2026 Great Hearts Bard

Poetry was celebrated at the annual Great Hearts Bard in the Marley Center for Performing Arts at Maryvale Prep. 13 finalists, ranging from grades 3rd through 5th, recited a piece they had been rehearsing and reciting for the last several months, in front of their families, friends, faculty, and a panel of judges. Cora Patient, a fourth grader from Great Hearts Roosevelt was named the 2026 Bard with her winning recitation of Mr. Flood’s Party by Edwin Arlington Robinson.

“It’s a celebration of Beauty because these students have not only learned these poems, but they they’ve committed them to memory,” shared Taylor Saar, the coordinator of this year’s event. “And these beautiful words that have lasted the test of time are now being brought to life by these students who have come to know and love these poems. That is just such a special thing and worth celebrating.”

Scholars who compete as finalists at the regional competition are third, fourth, or fifth graders who have competed and won at their school level Bard competitions. There are several categories that we’re looking for,” explained Cammie Passey, one of the judges for the Great Hearts Bard. “Which include things like stage presence, intonation, their voice and pacing. Do their facial expressions or their vocal inflections or their actions actually overshadow the poem? There’s a difference between acting and a poetry recitation. And the very last overall score – was the performance greater than the sum of its parts?”

Serving as judges alongside Passey, the National Director of Curriculum for Lower Schools at Great Hearts America, was Amy Gottry, Regional Manager of Professional Development; Heather Washburn, Vice President of Achievement and Accessibility; and Carol McNamara, Director of Great Hearts Institute. Saar served as an accuracy judge.

Patient said she chose her poem because the subject matter was moving to her. “It was touching to me, and it was sad and just something that moved me,” she said. “And it’s about Eben Flood who’s an old man and all his friends and family and relation are all dead because he’s old and everybody else is gone.”

“The thing that really stood out for us with Cora was the nuance she brought to the performance,” said Passey. “It was a pretty complex poem, and it was a poem about the melancholy and maybe even the poignancy of aging. And she was able to draw the audience in. I felt myself leaning in. I could feel my colleagues leaning in while she was reciting. So, there was just a masterful nuance and delivery that she was able to capture in her recitation.”

While Patient said she was shocked and surprised by the win, she is not the only Bard in her family. She is following in the footsteps of her sister, Eleanor Patient, who was named the Great Hearts Bard in 2024. “My sister Eleanor Patient in 2024 won. Eleanor lost in third grade, but she won in fourth grade and I did the exact same thing,” she shared.

Charley Colon, a third grader from Archway Lincoln, was runner-up position for her recitation of I Am the People, the Mob by Carl Sandburg.

It was a tough competition with many notable recitations from the rest of the talented finalists including:

• Reave A., a fifth grader at Archway Chandler, who recited Casabianca by Felicia Hemans.
• Benson G., a fifth grader at Archway Glendale, who recited The Tale of Custard the Dragon by Ogden Nash.
• Leif H., a fourth grader at Great Hearts Christian Academies, who recited Psalm 139:1-24 by psalmist David from the Bible.
• Winston M., a fifth grader from Archway Veritas, who recited The Tale of Custard the Dragon by Ogden Nash.
• Nora N., a fourth grader from Archway North Phoenix, who recited Casey at Bat by Ernest Lawrence Thayer.
• Myra G., a fourth grader at Archway Trivium, who recited The Embarrassing Episode of Little Miss Muffet by Guy Wetmore Carryl.
• Dylann S., A fifth grader at Archway Cicero, who recited Lift Every Voice and Sing by James Weldon Johnson.
• Erica B., a fifth grader at Maryvale Prep, who recited The Spider and the Fly by Mary Howitt.
• Zachary M., a fifth grader at Great Hearts Anthem, who recited Television by Roald Dahl.
• Lara R., a fifth grader at Archway Scottsdale, who recited The Walrus and the Carpenter by Lewis Carroll.
• Cara-Maria W., a fifth grader at Archway Arete, who recited The White Knight’s Song by Lewis Carroll.

“Something like the Bard competition is deeply important culturally within the Great Hearts Network and our schools,” shared Passey. “And a big reason why it’s important is because it gives students an opportunity to reach for excellence.” Join us in congratulating all of our finalists.

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