Maine Arts Commission Announces Poetry Out Loud State Finals


  • March 05, 2015

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Maine High School Students Compete in National Poetry Recitation Contest

The Maine Arts Commission is presenting the 2015 Maine State Finals for Poetry Out Loud—a National Poetry Recitation Contest on March 11 at 3 p.m. at the Waterville Opera House. The competition, presented in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation, is free and open to the public. Jennifer Rooks, MPBN’s Public Affairs Host, will be the emcee. Doors open to the public at 2:30 p.m. and no tickets are required.

Now celebrating its tenth anniversary, Poetry Out Loud encourages high school students to learn about great poetry through memorization, performance, and competition. In celebration of this milestone anniversary, former Maine State Champions will also be participating at this event.

Since Poetry Out Loud began, millions of students at more than 7,300 schools nationwide have been involved. This program also gives students an opportunity to master public-speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about their literary heritage.

 “Ten years ago, we launched the first national Poetry Out Loud competition, and since then, nearly 2.5 million high school students have discovered the art of poetry recitation,” said National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Chairman Jane Chu. “Together with the Poetry Foundation, state arts agencies, local arts organizations, schools, and teachers, we are thrilled to encourage the next generation of poetry ambassadors."

Poetry Out Loud is organized by the NEA and the Poetry Foundation, and is administered at the state level by the Maine Arts Commission. It began this year in Maine's high schools where each school selected a champion to compete in a regional competition. From the two regional finals, 10 students were selected to compete in the State Finals. One student will move on from the State Finals to represent Maine at the National Finals in Washington D.C., where students from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico will compete for a total of $50,000 in awards and school stipends for the purchase of poetry books.

 

The following Regional Finalists will participate in the Maine State Final at the Waterville Opera House:

•  Mohammad Hashmi, Bangor High School

•  Josef Biberstein, Freeport High School

•  Mariah Lang, Gardiner Area High School

•  Emma Curnin, Kents Hill School

•  Rose Horowitz, Mt. Ararat High School

•  Charlotte Eisenberg, North Yarmouth Academy

•  Emma Weissenfels, Oak Hill High School

•  Owen Sinclair, Rangeley Lakes Regional School

•  Isabella Labbe, Waterville Senior High School

•  Ella Werner, Yarmouth High School.

 

 

For more information, please visit http://mainearts.maine.gov/Pages/Education/POL-Home or contact Argy Nestor, Maine Arts Commission Director of Arts Education at argy.nestor@maine.gov or 207-287-2713.

 

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Argy Nestor

193 State Street
Augusta  ME  04333 
vog.eniam@rotsen.ygra