By David Eck

DAYTON DEANERY — Chaminade-Julienne senior Rachel Chandler is a well-known shooting guard on the school’s basketball team, but when she takes a national stage later this month it will have nothing to do with hoops.

CT/DAVID ECK

Rachel Chandler

C-J English teacher Jim Brooks coordinated the school-wide competition, the first time C-J participated in the contest.

"I thought this would be a good thing for our curriculum," he said. "I also had in mind that Rachel has performed some of her own poetry and has done a nice job with it."

Chandler, who typically writes religious poetry, recited three poems at the state competition: "Writ on the Steps of Puerto Rican Harlem," by Gregory Corso; "Winter," by Marie Ponsot; and "Alabanza: In Praise of Local 100," by Martín Espada.

The competition, which was launched in 2006, is presented by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation in partnership with the Ohio Arts Council. More than 100,000 students competed in 2007.

The competition has helped her expand her vocabulary and improved her own poetry, she said. Poetry Out Loud also introduces students to poems they may never hear or read.

"It gives the kids exposure to poetry," Brooks said. "My hope is that it will generate interest in . . . poetry for them because they’ll come to appreciate it."