Junior David Palacios is confident the Get Lit team is prepared for the Classic Slam poetry competition that begins on April 20.

“Our strength is that our team has experience, whether it be just writing poetry for fun or being part of Get Lit before,” Palacios said.

The team, consisting of seniors Katie Lashley and Ruby Rodriguez, juniors Jade Ajileye, Angel Rivera and Palacios and sophomores Amanda Jimenez and Emely Felix meet in sponsor Ron Baer’s room during lunch every Monday and Wednesday.

“We work on getting ready for the competition by revising our poems and perform them out loud to receive constructive criticism,” Ajileye said.

Compared to last year, the team began practicing much earlier and Baer is excited the extra practice will get them further in the competition.

“We’ve never gotten past the quarterfinals and I really want to this year,” Baer said. “I truly believe we have the team that will accomplish that.

The quarter- and semi-finals will be held on April 20 and 21 at the Los Angeles Theatre Center. Finals will be on April 23 at the Orpheum.