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South Dakota Arts Council
711 E. Wells Ave
Pierre, SD 57501
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 9, 2007
CONTACT: Michael Pangburn, (605) 773-5507
Students Chosen for State Poetry Out Loud Contest
PIERRE, S.D.- High school students from Brookings, Freeman, Howard, Milbank, Redfield, Sioux Falls, Sisseton and Watertown have been selected as South Dakota Poetry Out Loud finalists. The state competition will be held at Riggs High School Theatre in Pierre, March 21, beginning at 1:00 p.m. The public is invited to attend.
Poetry Out Loud is a nationwide poetry competition for high school students initiated and supported by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation. South Dakota Arts Council, South Dakotans for the Arts and South Dakota Public Broadcasting are statewide sponsors of the event.
Poetry Out Loud seeks to foster the next generation of literary readers by capitalizing on the latest trends in poetry—recitation and performance. The program builds on the resurgence of poetry as an oral art form, demonstrated by the slam poetry movement and the immense popularity of rap music among American youth. The program encourages high school students to learn about great poetry through memorization, performance and competition. Through Poetry Out Loud, students can master public speaking skills and build self-confidence.
More than 200,000 students across the nation are expected to participate in 2007, the second year of the program. More than $100,000 will be awarded in scholarships to students and grants to schools. This includes scholarships at the state levels and a $20,000 scholarship to the national champion. State winners and chaperones will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to WashingtonDC on April 30-May 1, for the national contest.
Last year’s state winner, Kayla Jackmon of Sioux FallsWashingtonHigh School, was a finalist at the 2006 national contest. She was awarded a $1000 scholarship and $500 in poetry books for her high school library. She also met with Senators Tim Johnson and John Thune while in Washington.
This year’s state POL program was open to all interested South Dakota schools. The competition began at the classroom level with curricular resources provided by the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Poetry Foundation. Schools sent videos of local winners to a panel of judges who used a national evaluation form to select the nine finalists who will compete in the March 21st state contest.
Finalists include Stephanie Deutsch, Watertown; Abi Epp, Freeman Academy; Stephanie Fischer, Sisseton; Mitch Harms, Sioux Falls Washington; Senia Hiltunen, Howard; Benjamin Kantack, Brookings; Janessa Nickell, Sioux Falls Lincoln; Naomi Paulson, Redfield; and Alex Weber, Milbank.
Selecting the finalists were judges Kim Bartling, theatre director and oral interpretation judge, University of Sioux Falls; Ivan Fuller, theatre director and poet, AugustanaCollege; and Patrick Hicks, English teacher and poet, AugustanaCollege.
Judges at the state contest will be David Allan Evans, South Dakota State Poet Laureate; Ray Peterson, SDSU Theatre Department and oral interpretation judge; and LeAnn Roripaugh, USD English Department and poet.
Further information about the Poetry Out Loud contest may be obtained from state coordinator Rosella Blunk (rosieblunk@yahoo.com).
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