SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – Two weeks before she’s set to speak at her high school graduation, one Jefferson High School senior took to a different stage and brought home second place in a national competition.
Teonna Randle took home the national runner-up title and a $10,000 prize from The National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation’s recitation competition in Washington, D.C. last week.
“If you would have told 8th grade Teonna that today Teonna would have gotten 10k from just reading poems that you found fascinating, I mean, she would have laughed at you, she definitely wouldn’t have believed you,” Randle said.
She performed three pieces, including “George Moses Horton, Myself” by George Moses Horton, “Wade in the Water” by Tracy K. Smith and “Frederick Douglass” by Robert Hayden.
Her favorite to perform was Smith’s poem, Wade in the Water. Randle said it was originally inspired by Gullah Geechee Ring Shouters from the Caribbean and how they came to the U.S. as slaves.
“There’s so much little symbolism and motifs in that poem that I couldn’t not put that in there,” Randle mentioned. “It’s so effective and it moves the audience pretty well, so I had to have that one in there. I thought it was beautiful. It’s definitely my favorite.”
Although the three poems were written in very different times and reflect different aspects of Black culture in America, Randle said they still speak to “what’s going on right now in our world.”
Randle has performed all across the country, writing and performing poetry. She began taking it more seriously in 8th grade after performing in her school’s poetry slam.
“I think the key moment for me was when everyone kind of came up to me afterwards and told me how much my words spoke to them on a deeper level,” she recalled. “… Having people come up to me and actually vocalize that they love my words and they can feel my words and they can feel my message. I mean, that kind of solidified what I wanted to do.”
The young poet is also set to speak at the Jefferson High School commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 17. In the fall, she plans on attending Colorado College to study English.
“Representing South Dakota is very important,” Randle added. “I feel like we’re kind of an underrepresented state as it is, especially when it comes to the arts and poetry, which is kind of sad because there’s so much talent here.”
Randle said she plans on putting the money away for college, after she treats her family out to dinner, of course.
You can watch Randle’s performance here.
