Jude Litulumar
Victoria Igitol Pangelinan
Jude Litulumar won in the 13-15-year-old division while Victoria Igitol Pangelinan was first in the 16-19-year-old division.
Pangelinan said she dedicated her poem to all victims of domestic violence.
“I have heard a lot about [domestic violence] and it is real,” said Pangelinan, who also won last year’s slam poetry for the 13-15-year-old division. “I hope a lot of people will pay attention to it.”
Competing against Pangelinan were Maria Calma from Marianas High School, and Nehemiah Concepcion Fernandez from Saipan Southern High School.
“I think everyone here did a great job at relaying the message,” said Pangelinan, who wants to be a writer. “For me, all of us are winners because we mustered the courage to go on that stage and to send our message to everyone.”
Jude Litulumar said he has no personal experience with teen violence, but he managed to write a poem about it with the help of his parents and friends.
“For me, teen dating violence is a sad topic,” he said. “I wanted to confront the issue through poetry slam and express how I feel about it.”
One of the competition judges, writer and Micronesian Legal Services Corp. lawyer Jane Mack, said all nine students “brought something different to the stage — it was really hard to judge because each one was unique.”
Although the teenagers have limited knowledge about domestic violence, Mack said they took “diverse approaches to a very difficult topic.”
“All of them did a good job, especially the boys,” she added.
Mack said the Micronesian Legal Services Corp. supports the work of the Northern Marianas Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence. “We are really proud and grateful for their work and we want to support their mission.”
The other judges were Victoria Shirriff, of the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp., and Mardee Hermosilla, a KHS graduate and two-time winner of Teen Poetry Slam.
Maisie Tenorio, the executive director of the Northern Marianas Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, said she was amazed by the students’ bravery to go to the stage and show their understanding of the issue and express their commitment to help end domestic and sexual violence.
“It is always moving to be in a space where young people’s voices are being heard,” she said. “Anything they say is relevant and important because only they know what issues they are facing on a day-to-day basis.”
She said the coalition hosts the Teen Poetry Slam each year to give an opportunity to young people to express themselves. “It is our job to listen,” she added.
Teen Poetry Slam was the culmination of the Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month, which was observed in February.
Winners
13-15-year-old division
1) Jude Litulumar, Kagman High School
2) Elaine Joy Fernandez, Saipan Southern High School
3) Wynesia Quinata, Chacha Oceanview Middle School
Other participants:
Angelica Aldan Mario, KHS
Kiku Tudela, KHS
Jeahoon Son, Marianas High School
16-19-year-old division
1) Victoria Igitol Pangelinan, KHS
2) Nehemiah Concepcion Fernandez, SSHS
3) Maria Calma, MHS
