Third Time’s Another Charm with Listening to the Future
On Thursday, April 4, Rochester Spoken Word and Writers & Books teamed up for the third edition of Listening to the Future: An Evening of Prose and Poetry by Area High School Students. The first year, our student cast set the bar very high. The second-year cast successfully met that challenge, and the 2019 cast was no different. The talent, bravery, and poise on display by this year’s readers was inspiring, to say the least.
The 11 students who participated this year represented six area high schools and were nominated by seven different teachers, and we are extremely thankful for those teachers taking the time out of their busy schedules to get involved. In addition to our student readers, we also got to meet the designer of this year’s commemorative t-shirt, Jessica Zhang, a Junior at Our Lady of Mercy High School. (To see her design and to purchase a shirt, visit our Shop.)
If you weren’t at the show, you missed a wonderful evening and should make every effort to attend next year’s show. These are the voices of our future, and you need to hear them.
Lineup for Listening to the Future, April 4, 2019, at Writers & Books:
Electric Fingertips — Tali Beckwith-Cohen (School of the Arts, Nominated by Marcy Gamzon)
Open Your Eyes — Angelina Cannon (Webster Schroeder, Nominated by Linda Law)
Overthink — Keira Donnelly (Victor High, Nominated by LeeAnn Birkemeier)
Just Like You — Nico Pantojas (Webster Thomas, Nominated by Sheila Byrne)
From Racism to Resilience — Wali Waheed (Webster Schroeder, Nominated by Linda Law)
Such a Fool — Kordae Graham-Mills (School of the Arts, Nominated by Marcy Gamzon)
Perfectionism — Sami DeZutter (Webster Schroeder, Nominated by Linda Law)
The Day I Die — Taelor Kirkebye (Pittsford Sutherland, Nominated by Evvy Fanning)
Bicycle Adventures — Turon Parker (School of the Arts, Nominated by Marcy Gamzon)
Oh Sailors! — Grace Piscani (Victor High, Nominated by David Arnold)
Journey of an Autistic Girl — Lillian Greco (Our Lady of Mercy, Nominated by Melinda Good)
Special Thanks To:
Sally Bittner Bonn and the Staff of Writers & Books for their assistance and for co-sponsoring the event.
Martin Petrella for taking pictures.
Noor Lima Boudakian for her invaluable assistance.
Kathy Collina and Katy McNeill for making popcorn and selling T-shirts.
