Arts Council
School champions from 19 counties compete in Kentucky finals of Poetry Out Loud

FRANKFORT, Ky. — On March 8, the Kentucky Arts Council will present the state finals for the Poetry Out Loud National Recitation Contest, which will bring the winners of each of 21 Kentucky high school competitions to vie for the state championship. The competition, presented in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation, is part of a national program that encourages high school students to learn about great poetry through memorization, performance and competition.

The state finals, which are open to the public, will be held next Tuesday from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. EST, at Western Hills High School, 100 Doctor’s Drive, Frankfort, Ky.

Competing students are: Kayla Wilson, Allen County/Scottsville High School, Allen County; Brittany Skidmore, Bell County High School, Bell County; Candice Lewis, Pineville High School, Bell County; Lissy Rigsby, Boyd County High School, Boyd County; Randall S. Turner, Jackson City School, Breathitt County; Zachary Milford, Paul Lawrence Dunbar High School, Fayette County; Kaitlyn Luyster, Western Hills High School, Franklin County; Kaytee Holtman, Grant County High School, Grant County; Jesse Hubbard, Harlan County High School, Harlan County; James Rogers, Hart County High School, Hart County; Tyler Poteet, Butler Traditional High School, Jefferson County; Dane Mendelsohn, Ballard High School, Jefferson County; Torie DiMartile, Beechwood High School, Kenton County; Ethan Gibson, Leslie County High School, Leslie County; Sierra Kiser, Jenkins Independent School, Letcher County; Keilyn Wargo, Lone Oak High School, McCracken County; Michael Cotten, Mercer County High School, Mercer County, Kesia Casey, Ohio County High School, Ohio County; Jared Auton, Pikeville High School, Pike County; Christopher Louis Bradley, Russell County High School, Russell County; and Lauren May, Greenwood High School, Warren County.

Kentucky poets Frederick Smock, Bianca Spriggs and Lisa Williams will serve as judges for the Kentucky state finals.

The winner of the state finals will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington D.C. and will advance to the National Finals, April 27-29, 2011, where students will compete for $50,000 in scholarships and school prizes.

Literary, storytelling and theater artists selected for the Kentucky Arts Council Arts Education Roster coached students at each school leading up to school contests. The teaching artists who participated were: Mitch Barrett, Charlie Bissell, Beth Dotson Brown, Cynthia Changaris, Trina Fischer, Thomas Freese, Mary Hamilton, Pam Holcomb, Darla Jackson, Katherine Mapother, Susan Pope, Octavia Sexton, Judy Sizemore and Shannon Woolley.

This year the arts council received a state travel grant from the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation to increase the range of outreach across the Commonwealth. Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation is honored to provide travel support for regional and state finals of Poetry Out Loud in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.

The Kentucky Arts Council, the state arts agency, creates opportunities for Kentuckians to value, participate in and benefit from the arts. Kentucky Arts Council funding is provided by the Kentucky General Assembly and the National Endowment for the Arts.

The National Endowment for the Arts is a public agency dedicated to supporting excellence in the arts, both new and established; bringing the arts to all Americans; and providing leadership in arts education. Established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government, the endowment is the nation's largest annual funder of the arts, bringing great art to all 50 states, including rural areas, inner cities and military bases.

The Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry magazine, is an independent literary organization committed to a vigorous presence for poetry in our culture. It exists to discover and celebrate the best poetry and to place it before the largest possible audience.

The Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation supports the richness and diversity of the region’s arts resources and promotes wider access to the art and artists of the region, nation and world.

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