When Jordyn Imig gets behind the microphone, her voice changes from an energetic 15-year-old to a passionate poet.
Her delivery of Dana Gioia's "Becoming a Redwood" dubbed Imig the 2024 Hawaiʻi Poetry Out Loud champion. Now, she will be among more than 160,000 students nationwide to compete in the poetry recitation contest this year.
Next week, the Hanalani Schools sophomore will take the national stage in Washington, D.C., to compete in the semifinals.
"It will be a really cool experience to meet everyone," she said. "It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity — the experience of being on stage reciting in front of all these people."
The competition on May 1 will be live-streamed on the National Endowment for the Arts website. The next day, the top nine students will advance from the semifinals to compete for the title of national champion and the grand prize of $20,000.
Imig said she's always loved music, art and performing on stage. She first competed in the Poetry Out Loud competition last year, placing second at her school. Now, she will compete with other students who are the best in their states.
Imig performed other poems at the state competition including "Abandoned Farmhouse" by Ted Kooser and "Charge of the Light Brigade" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.
"They all spoke to me in different ways, and they're all unique in their own manner," she said, noting that some of the poems evoke emotions and different interpretations.
Although Imig wanted a variety of tones for her poems, she resonated most with "Becoming a Redwood."
"The first line of the poem is, 'Stand in the field long enough and the sounds start up again.' That line resonated with me because I had stood in a field visiting the mainland. I just looked up at the sky, and I stood there listening to the sounds of nature around me," she said.
Imig said the words flow with her when she writes or recites poetry.
"One of the most important things, especially when reciting a poem, is you have to be genuine," she said.
Jordyn's mother, Christen Imig, said she cried when her daughter won the state poetry recitation competition.
"It was just tears of joy of how proud I was of her," Christen Imig said. "She put a lot into this competition, and seeing the fruits of her labor pay off, and the Lord bless her in just a really, really amazing way was more than I could handle at that moment."
Christen Imig described her daughter as a sweet soul, academically driven and a natural-born leader. She remembered Jordyn writing poetry on napkins and tiny scraps of paper, which Christen said she still keeps in a box.
"There's a special plan that the Lord has for her in terms of what she's going to do," she said. "I don't know exactly what it's going to look like, but seeing her use her gifts and abilities is exciting."
Poetry Out Loud is a national arts education program that began in 2005. It encourages the study of poetry by offering free educational materials and dynamic recitation competitions for students across the country. The program also aims to help students master public speaking skills and learn about literary history.
Since the program's launch, more than 4.4 million students and 81,000 teachers from 20,000 schools nationwide have participated in it.
In Hawaiʻi, Poetry Out Loud is implemented by the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts and the Honolulu Theatre for Youth.
Out of 16 state poetry champions in Hawaiʻi, three students placed in the top nine.
As Jordyn Imig prepares for the semifinals, she recently practiced in front of an audience at a local plant cafe in Kaimukī.
The crowd was silent as Imig recited "Charge of the Light Brigade." Her eyes closed as she recited the last lines, "Into the valley of death rode the six hundred."
