Arts Council
Western Hills High School student Barbara Gooding wins Poetry Out Loud National Recitation Contest state championship

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Barbara Gooding, a senior at Western Hills High School in Frankfort, emerged as the winner among the 15 high school students from across the Commonwealth who competed in the fifth annual Poetry Out Loud state finals today at the Frankfort Convention Center, coordinated by the Kentucky Arts Council. Tori DiMartile of Beechwood High School in Ft. Mitchell was named second-place winner. Last year, Gooding and DiMartile also placed first and second in the state finals and Gooding went on to place second in the National Recitation Contest.

As the first-place winner, Gooding will receive $200 and an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C., to compete with other state champions for $50,000 in awards and school stipends at the National Finals April 26-27, 2010. As state champion, Gooding's school will receive $500 to purchase poetry for its library.

Second-place winner, DiMartile will receive a $100 cash prize and $200 for her school library to purchase poetry books.

Both Gooding and DiMartile will be invited to recite poems at the Kentucky Arts Council's Kentucky Writers' Day Celebration April 23, 2010, in the Capitol Rotunda, Frankfort.

Poetry Out Loud is presented by state arts agencies such as the Kentucky Arts Council in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation. The program develops young people’s public speaking skills, self-confidence and knowledge of their literary heritage.

Starting at the classroom level, winners advance to a school-wide competition, then to the state competition and finally to the national competition, where 12 finalists and ultimately the Poetry Out Loud National Champion are chosen from the 50 states and the District of Columbia winners.

Participants in the Kentucky state finals were the school winners from 15 high schools that completed a unit of study on poetry with materials provided by the National Endowment for the Arts and an artist residency provided by the Kentucky Arts Council. Participating artists from the Kentucky Arts Council’s Arts Education Roster included Richard Albin, Mitch Barrett, Cynthia Changaris, Kathi E. B. Ellis, Thomas Freese, Mary Hamilton, Pam Holcomb, Susan Pope, Bet Stewart and Shannon Woolley. Students worked with these professional artists in selecting, interpreting and rehearsing their poems.

Kentucky poets Frederick Smock, Bianca Spriggs and Lisa Williams served as judges for the Kentucky state finals, which were emceed by educator, composer and pianist Harry Pickens.

For more information about Poetry Out Loud, visit www.poetryoutloud.org.

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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.

NOTE TO EDITORS: Click the links below for print quality photos of students winning awards. Photos of individual students performing their recitations are available upon request to Ed.Lawrence@ky.gov.

PHOTO: http://artscouncil.ky.gov/Press_Images/POL2010_0037.jpg
L. to R. Lori Meadows, executive director, Kentucky Arts Council; Poetry Out Loud Kentucky winner Barbara Gooding; and Lindy Casebier, deputy secretary of Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet.

PHOTO: http://artscouncil.ky.gov/Press_Images/ POL2010_0034.jpg
L. to R. Lori Meadows, executive director, Kentucky Arts Council; Poetry Out Loud Kentucky second-place winner Tori DiMartile, and Lindy Casebier, deputy secretary of Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet.

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