Wyoming Arts Council

Sara Ellingrod of Arvada-Clearmont High School wins Poetry Out Loud title


Sara Ellingrod (center) is pictured with First Lady Carol Mead (l) and Superintendent of Public Instruction Cindy Hill (r) who presented the awards certificates to all of the participants, the winner and runner-up.

For the second straight year, Sara Ellingrod of Arvada-Clearmont High School in Sheridan County was named winner of the Wyoming Poetry Out Loud finals held in Cheyenne on Monday.

As champion, Ellingrod receives an expenses-paid trip with a chaperone to Washington, D.C. where she will represent Wyoming at the Poetry Out Loud finals, May 14-15.

Ellingrod receives $200 and a selection of books. She also earned a $500 stipend for the purchase of poetry books for her school.

This is the third consecutive year that a student from Arvada-Clearmont High School has won the Wyoming competition.

Receiving runner-up honors was Hannah Hout, a student at Star Lane Center in Casper.

She receives $100 and a selection of books. Also, her school receives a $200 stipend to buy poetry books.

The awards were presented by Wyoming First Lady Carol Mead and Superintendent of Public Instruction Cindy Hill.

In addition to Ellingrod and Hout, nine others participated. Those students are Alicia Sanchez, Ft. Washakie Charter High School; Alyssa Prado, South High School, Cheyenne; Christian Borgaard, Carey Junior High School, Cheyenne; Felipe Lehtinen, Whiting High School, Laramie; Katlynn Kretz, Worland High School; Kyla Christensen, Kaycee High School; Rebecca Dulaney, Sundance Secondary; Shalene Velarde, Pathfinder High School, Lander; and Shawna Wolf, Buffalo High School.

Judges for this year’s competition were Jim Coppoc, performance poet and musician from Ames, Iowa; Wyoming Poet Laureate Pat Frolander; and poet and educator Diane Panozzo.

The Wyoming Arts Council invites high school students involved in creative writing, drama and speech and debate to encourage their teachers to sign up for next year’s Poetry Out Loud program. The WAC will send out registration information in September.

For more information, contact Linda Coatney at the WAC at 307-777-6393 or linda.coatney@wyo.gov. For more information about Poetry Out Loud please visit www.poetryoutloud.org.


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