Featured News | March 11, 2014
For the fourth consecutive year, Sara Ellingrod of Arvada-Clearmont High School has captured the Poetry Out Loud first-place title.
Ellingrod vied with eleven other high school competitors from across the state in the memorization and recitation competition. Runner-up was Rebecca Dulaney from Sundance Secondary.
The 2014 Wyoming Poetry Out Loud state competition and awards ceremony took place March 10-11 in Cheyenne. Judges for this year’s event were Adrian Molina, Echo Roy Klaproth, Chris Propst and Kelly Madigan.
This year’s student contestants came from Sundance, Fort Washakie, Shoshoni, Buffalo, Kaycee, Cheyenne, Casper, Hanna, Riverton, Clearmont, Green River and Jackson.
First Lady Carol Mead presented the participation and award certificates. Ellingrod will receive $200; Dulaney, $100; both also earned a cash prize for their respective schools to purchase poetry books for the library.
Ellingrod and her chaperone will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to compete at the national finals in Washington, D.C., April 29-30. Scholarships totaling $50,000 are awarded to the national champion and the other placers.
Poetry Out Loud is a memorization and recitation competition for ninth through twelfth grade students. Sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation, the program is administered by the Wyoming Arts Council. Interested teachers can call Katie Christensen at 307-777-7109 for further details about participating in the 2015 competition.
Photo on home page: Poetry Out Loud winner Sara Ellingrod (left) with First Lady Carol Mead. Photo by Richard Collier.
The Wyoming Arts Council believes that experiencing the arts should be accessible for all, including people with mental and/or physical disabilities, older adults, military/veterans, people living in institutions and those who lack access to the arts due to geographic isolation, cultural difference and economic hardship.
