Two Local Students Advance To Poetry Out Loud Semi Finals

Poetry Out Loud

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CENTRAL OREGON -- Redmond and Crook County Highs Schools will be represented in the semi finals of the annual Poetry Out Loud contest to be held Saturday, March 13th at Salem Kroc Center in Salem.

Contestants Nathaniel Dunaway, a junior at Crook County High School and Audrey Saxton a sophomore at Redmond High School are two of 23 contestants who made the semi finals.

The school champions, ranging in age from 15 to 19, are fine-tuning their presentations and recitations which will be judged by physical presence, voice and articulation, appropriateness of dramatization, accuracy, evidence of understanding, level of difficulty and overall performance. Each contestant must prepare three poems.

The winner of the state competition will represent Oregon in the national finals, taking place in Washington, DC on April 25 - 27.

The Oregon champion wins an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, DC (with a chaperone); a $200 scholarship; and $500 for the school library to purchase poetry books. At the nationals, he or she will compete for more than $35,000 in scholarships.

The program seeks to foster the next generation of literary readers by capitalizing on the latest trends in poetry - recitation and performance. It builds on the resurgence of poetry as an oral art form, as seen in the slam poetry movement, and brings aspects of slam poetry, spoken word and theater into the English class.

"Learning great poetry by heart develops the mind and imagination," observed Dana Gioia, former chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. "Poetry Out Loud isn't just an arts program. By immersing themselves in powerful language and ideas, students develop their ability to speak well, especially in public. This is a skill they will use in the workplace and the community for the rest of their lives."

The Oregon Arts Commission, the NEA and the Poetry Foundation partner to sponsor Poetry Out Loud. The Arts Commission has developed an Oregon Curriculum Guide that can be used to connect Poetry Out Loud classroom activities to Oregon's Content and Performance Standards in Language Arts and the Arts. For further information on Poetry Out Loud, contact the Oregon Arts Commission at 503-986-0082, or visit the national website at www.poetryoutloud.org

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