For Tioga High School students Kendal Kearns and Kallin Henderson, this year’s UIL Poetry season was an opportunity to tell meaningful stories, connect with audiences and discover just how far their voices could take them.
The two competitors advanced all the way to the UIL State Poetry Interpretation competition after dominating both District and Regional contests, consistently finishing first and second. Kearns capped off her senior season by placing third at State.
Both students said selecting the right pieces was one of the most important parts of their success.
Kallin Henderson’s A piece allowed him to showcase his humorous side.
“I chose the first one because it’s really funny and goofy, and I get to do dumb things. Like in the middle of it I start singing, and I do like a stupid little kid British singing voice at one point,” Henderson said.
His B piece took a much different approach, focusing on post-traumatic stress disorder and the challenges of living with it.
“It’s about PTSD and striving for a better tomorrow with that and how to get help with PTSD, and I like that one a lot because it really let me be serious, and I could really milk out the sad moments and get in people’s feelings,” he said.
Henderson said the piece appealed to him because of his interest in mental health topics.
“I am interested in mental health stuff, and PTSD kind of falls into that,” he said. “So being able to take on the role of someone that has PTSD and speak like that, I liked it a lot.”
He also hoped the performance would challenge audience members’ assumptions about PTSD.
“I hope that it made the people in the room realize that the military stuff and war movies and things don’t really show that side of PTSD where you’re nervous or suicidal. You struggle. You can’t really vent or get out to people because ‘you’re a man.’”
For Kendal Kearns, her A piece centered on self-acceptance and embracing individuality.
“It was a piece that I had done last year as well, because I feel like I’m just a very energetic person, so I have a lot of personality, and sometimes that’s not for everybody,” Kearns said. “It was a fun piece to kind of just talk about how it’s okay. Just accept who you are. Be happy with who you are and just go with it.”
Her B piece addressed sexual assault.
“It was about rape and speaking up and out about those things and how we can’t hide those things,” she said.
Kearns said she was inspired by a former Tioga student who performed the piece at State the year before.
“Every time she read it, I always felt something,” Kearns said. “I wanted to be able to portray that to even more people and to spread that message, because I think that that is such a big problem.”
Preparing for the competitions required months of practice and refinement.
Henderson said he spent significant time working on his PTSD piece, partly because a former Tioga competitor who had placed second at State had previously performed it.
“The person who got second in State critiqued me once and showed me all the stuff he did when he did it, and that really boosted me a lot,” Henderson said.
Both students also attended an invitational before the district competition to test their performances in front of judges and gather feedback.
Kearns focused heavily on understanding the deeper meaning behind her pieces.
“It was just a lot of reading it and making sure that I fully understood what I was reading so that I could portray that to the judges, because I didn’t want to take on such a drastic topic without fully understanding what I was saying,” she said.
She also battled nerves when it came to memorizing introductions.
“A lot of it was just the repetition of the intros and the feeling of confidence,” Kearns said.
Their hard work paid off.
Henderson, who was competing in poetry for the first time, was surprised when he earned first place at District.
“When I got first, I was like, ‘Oh, wow, okay, I did good enough, apparently,’” he said.
After earning another first-place finish at Regionals, his confidence continued to grow.
“I was even more surprised, like, ‘Wow, okay,’” Henderson said. “‘So I’m good enough to get first place at District and Region.’”
For Kearns, who had competed in poetry before, Austin had been the goal all along.
“My biggest goal was to make it to State,” she said. “I didn’t care what the placement was.”
That goal turned into something even bigger at the State meet.
Going into the competition, Kearns told her teacher she had one specific target in mind.
“I just want top three. That is all I want. That is what I’m shooting for,” she said.
When she advanced to the final round, she already felt accomplished.
“Making it to just the final round was super exciting. I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I did it.’”
Then came the announcement that she had earned third place in the State.
“I was just ecstatic,” Kearns said. “And I got one of the big State medals. And I was like, ‘Heck yeah, what a way to end the senior year.’”
Beyond trophies and medals, both students said the experience taught them valuable lessons.
Henderson learned to focus less on comparisons and more on personal growth.
“I definitely learned that when it comes to doing your piece and competing against everyone, that it’s super important to try not to compare yourself to others,” he said.
Instead, he said competitors should focus on improvement.
Knowing that each time you do it, you improve and that you’re getting better and better every time you do it — that’s more important than doing better than some guy that goes right after you or right before you.”
Both students said sharing the journey with each other made the accomplishment even more meaningful.
“It was really cool that we got to go the whole way together,” Kearns said.
As Henderson looks ahead to next season, he plans to return to poetry with another trip to state in mind.
“Probably my main goal is to make it to finals in State, because I didn’t do that this year,” he said.
For both students, poetry became a chance to step into different perspectives and connect with audiences through performance.
“When it comes to doing poetry and just public speaking in general,” Henderson said, “it’s so much fun being able to embody a character, speak as someone you’re not and do all that fun stuff.”
Kearns agreed, adding that one of the biggest takeaways was being able to tell stories that matter.
“I’ve learned so much about how important it is to just speak up and say what you have to say,” Kearns said. “And even if you’re the only one saying it, to be the one to lead the group and say what you need to say.”
