Every year, up to 35,000 students from 370 schools across Canada compete in the annual Poetry in Voice Contest. The aim of this competition is to promote poetry recitation in high schools across the country. Leo Chang, one of our own, progressed through the competition, beginning at the classroom level and ending with an impressive finish at the National Finals, bringing home the 3rd Place hardware and prize money to be spent at the St. George’s Learning Commons.

Held at the Fei and Milton Wong Experimental Theatre in Downtown Vancouver, the Poetry in Voice Nationals displayed the recitations of 48 students in three different language streams. Leo competed in the English stream, while his fellow competitors spoke in the French and Bilingual competition. Each contestant picked out three poems to recite, one for each round of elimination.

Leo had a smooth and paved route to the Finals round, wooing and winning over the crowd with his warm and persuasive voice. Upon asking him about what he took away from Nationals aside from the $500 cheque, Leo smiled and shared a quote. “I would say that it’s the great public speaking experience that the competition gave me, as well as the knowledge that I can use my so-called ‘Morgan Freeman voice’ for good instead of evil.”