Six high school students from Saint Michaels High School and Saints Peter and Paul High School participated in the annual Poetry Out Load competition for Talbot County at the Academy Art Museum in Easton on January 8. The first-place winner was Amy Nguyen of SSPPHS, second place was Sophia Cumbo of SMHS, and third place was Taraea Anthony also of SMHS. The other participants were Jack Singelstad, and Laura Dennison of SSPPHS and May Shaw of SMHS.
The three local winners now move up to the regional competition on Saturday, February 7, at the Talbot County Free Library in Easton. The finalists there will participate in the statewide competition at the Baltimore Museum of Art on Saturday, March 7. The national finals will be at the Lisner Auditorium at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., during May 2-4.
Six students from local high schools won their school’s Poetry Out Loud completion and qualified to participate in the Talbot County event at the Academy Art Museum in Easton on January 8. Pictured from left to right are Amy Nguyen of SSPPHS, Sophia Cumbo of SMHS, Taraea Anthony of SMHJS, Jack Singelstad and Laura Dennison of SSPPHS, and May Shaw of SMHS.
Poetry Out Loud is a literary arts program created by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation. Through the support of the Maryland State Arts Council, students across Maryland are enriched by this national arts education program that encourages the mastery of great poetry through memorization, performance and competition. Since the program began in 2005, more than 2.5 million students from 7,500 high schools have participated. The 2014-2015 school year is its 10th anniversary.
In the competition, high school students recite by heart poems selected from an online Poetry Out Loud anthology. Schools must hold a competition of at least two students to select their champion. This year’s Talbot County judges were Amanda Newell, poet and two time Pushcart Prize nominee; Suzy Moore of The Avalon Foundation; James Dissette of The Talbot Spy; Bill Peak of the Talbot County Free Library and the Talbot County Arts Council; and Jennifer Williams of the Maryland State Arts Council.
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Sharron Cassavant says
Congratulations to the winners of the Poetry OutLoud competition and good luck in the regional.
I was saddened to see that the largest high school in the area, Easton High School, sent not one competitor. What’s up with the English department at Easton High?