Amazing Reciters
The Poetry Out Loud (POL) Southern Maine Regional Finals were held earlier this week at the beautiful Westbrook Performing Arts Center. Students traveled from 17 high schools in the southern part of the state to recite poetry. The Maine Arts Commission held the Poetry Out Loud (POL) Southern Maine Regional Finals in conjunction with the Poetry Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. Students have been practicing and reciting poems in schools across the state and country since the fall. For the event each student had prepared three recitations and wowed the audience with their amazing performances.
We’re so proud of the following students who participated (listed in order of their recitations, selected randomly). The names with stars are the five students moving onto the state finals on March 11 at the Waterville Opera House, 3:00 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. The Messalonskee Jazz Band under the direction of music educator Andy Forster will perform at 2:45 and again in between recitations. All are welcome!
- Jack Lent, North Yarmouth Academy
- Stephanie Brown, Portland High School
- Amber Soucy, Lisbon High School
- Kaitlyn Guay, Greely High School
- Liam Doyle, South Portland High School
- Hannah Smith, Westbrook High School
- Helen Strout, Cape Elizabeth High School
- Delaney Ziegman, Thornton Academy**
- Aaliyah Biamby, Gorham High School**
- Olivia Cox, Mt. Ararat High School
- Blythe Thompson, Waynflete School
- Wyatt Bates, Yarmouth High School**
- Maya Ham, Oak Hill High School
- Charles Van West, Maine Coast Waldorf School
- Allison Rickert, Kennebunk High School
- Allan Monga, Deering High School**
- Joao Victor, Lewiston High School**
For more information about the Poetry Out Loud program please go the POL pages at the Maine Arts Commission website.
Southern Regional Finalists Wyatt Bates, Delaney Zeigman, Aaliyah Biamby, Allan Monga, and Joao Victor
Poetry Out Loud is organized nationally by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation and administered at the state level by the Maine Arts Commission. It begins in Maine’s schools where school champions are selected to compete in two regional finals at which ten students are ultimately selected to recite at the state finals. One student, the state champion, moves 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.
Poetry Out Loud uses a pyramid structure that starts at the classroom level. Winners advance to a school-wide competition, then to a regional and/or state competition, and ultimately to the National Finals.
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