Marshfield High School junior Adam Martin leads the crowd on during a break in his recital at the heavily attended annual poetry slam on March 12 in the school drama lab. Martin won second place with his poem. World Photo by Alex Powers

COOS BAY — Expect a poetry slam to be a low-key affair?

Try attending one at Marshfield High School.

About 250 students and a handful of others crowded into the drama lab — which seats 105 — for the school’s second-annual poetry slam March 12. Most of the overflow sat on the floor, with several others standing in the entryway, for the duration of two hours as 32 students performed original poetry.

“It’s more people than a basketball game,” said Cody Hockema, a senior who was one of five judges for the event.

Yes, extra credit was offered to those who performed at or attended the free event. But that hardly accounts for what happened after the students entered their names on the sign-in sheet: They listened attentively and cheered wildly.

At one point, raindrops on the roof became audible as the crowd strained to hear a soft-spoken performer, and the bursts of applause showed growing enthusiasm as the night wore on. It was a tremendous show of support for their fellow students.

The chief beneficiaries of that support were sophomore Aria Kelland and junior Derek Medina, who tied for first place with perfect scores in the event and split the $100 prize.

“I got compliments the whole day the next day,” Medina said. “It was nice.”

Medina’s poem came in the middle of the second half, during a string of entertaining, performance-oriented pieces that included second- and third-place winners Adam Martin and Mike Millan. By the sound of the applause at their introductions, the crowd seemed to expect great things from each of them, although Medina didn’t perform at last year’s slam — unlike Kelland, who managed to take a share of first place two years in a row.

Kelland said the event was also big last year and generated a lot of buzz that carried over to this year.

“There was some really cool poems, last year, so everybody was talking about it,” she said. “Everybody was stoked to go.”

English teacher Catherine Hampton, who organized the event, conceded it was a hit: “I think even if we didn’t have extra credit, we would still have a lot of kids here.”

So why was the slam the hottest ticket in town on a Wednesday night?

“A lot of kids that aren’t normally in the spotlight do this, so it’s a big deal for all their friends,” Hockema said, offering the most common explanation for the turnout.

In the second-to-last performance of the night, sophomore Alysia Fox spoke of wallflowers blooming in her poem about being hidden in the shadow of a popular, football-player brother. It didn’t place, but it may have captured the mood of a night in which the wallflowers came out in full force.

Of course, not all of them adjusted to being in the spotlight, and most of those who tried to perform from memory got stuck briefly at some point. Sophomore Austin Thompson had it the worst, abruptly leaving the stage a few lines into a promising performance, yet he left them wanting more.

“I really enjoyed every single person’s poem,” Medina said. “I knew that we had a big talent base, but I didn’t know it was such a wide range.”

Medina, a member of the speech team, said he had never tried poetry before, but he prepared by watching YouTube videos of competitive poetry slams, and his experience with public speaking made it feel like second nature.

While Medina’s performance was self-assured, his poem, “Cheesy Tater Tots,” dwelled on insecurities: “I’m hungry for a bacon cheeseburger with fries / that gives me the self-confidence to look into someone’s eyes / and not be scared that they can see the fear in mine.” The poem later quoted Yoda on the subject of fear.

“I’m a lot more comfortable speaking to groups than I am socially,” Medina said. “I wanted something people could identify with, the insecurities that we all have.”

Kelland said she was most impressed by the poets who showed vulnerability because she respected their openness.

Despite having to perform very close to the beginning, Kelland was able to command attention for her poem, “Who Are You?” by making it interactive, directing the audience to repeat the title every time she pointed.

Kelland said the idea for her poem came from a personal development workshop she attended two years ago in Utah. The poem traces the progression of her understanding of her identity, from besieged daughter to dutiful Mormon to beautiful and magnificent.

Though she never writes poetry outside of school, Kelland said she enjoyed the slam’s variety.

Other poems dealt with love, high school drama, family problems and politics. Freshmen Emily Beasley and Garrett Swafford issued a plea for the tabloids and paparrazi to leave alone troubled stars like Britney Spears, and Josh Thompson declared his true love for basketball.

The lineup was dominated by freshmen and sophomores but evenly distributed between boys and girls.

Emcee Scott Peters kept the slam progressing quickly with no comments from judges and only two of the five revealing scores each time.

Along with Hockema, judges included teachers Luke Parrish and Peggy Christensen; senior Alicia Howard; and freshman Jake Crump, a guest judge selected from the audience.

Despite the event’s overwhelming success, Hockema saw some room for improvement: “We should totally get the auditorium next year.”