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On the last day in February, seventeen students from six Southern Illinois high schools gathered in the auditorium of Carbondale High School. They spent nearly three hours reciting works by Langston Hughes, Robert Frost, T.S. Elliot, Emily Dickenson and Percy Bysshe Shelley, to name just a few. The occasion was Poetry Out Loud, a national recitation competetion initiated by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation to foster appreciation of poetry as a spoken art. The annual competition is organizaed and sponsored at the state level by the Illinois Arts Council in cooperation with seven regional partners, including Carbondale Community Arts.
This year's regional contest drew participants from Benton, Cairo, Carbondale, Clay City, Harrisburg and Herrin high schools, where teacher-sponsors used free Poetry Out loud curriculum materials and an extensive on-line anthology to prepare students for classroom and school competitions. The school winners who advanced to regional finals at CCHS were ranked by a panel of judges on criteria that included "voice and articulation" and "evidence of understanding."
Harrisburg High School junior, Laila Abdo, and CCHS sophomore, Suhaila Meera, emerged as first and second place winners. Both advanced to the state competition in Springfield, where Laila was selected as one of the top five in the state. On behalf of CCA, Vice President and regional judge Emil Spees expressed congratulations to all of the participants for their talented efforts.
Further detail regarding the Poetry Out Loud program is available online: www.poetryoutloud.org .
For more information regarding Carbondale Community Arts, please visit www.carbondalearts.org,
call 618/457.5100,
or email cca@neondsl.com.
For more information regarding Illinois Arts Council programs, please visit www.state.il.us/agency/iac/, call 312/814-6750, toll-free in Illinois 800/237-6994, TTY 888/261-7957 for individuals who have hearing or voice impairments, or email iac.info@illinois.gov. Individuals who are blind, have low vision, or have learning impairments may obtain assistance regarding Illinois Arts Council written materials by contacting the agency’s ADA/504 Access Coordinator.
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POETRY OUT LOUD National Recitation Contest
Carbondale Community Arts was proud to host the regional 2007 Illinois Poetry Out Loud National Recitation Contest.
Four area contestants went on to compete in the state Poetry Out Loud recitation in Springfield.
Kirsten Kennedy (Carbondale) was the top scorer and won a $250 scholarship to attend the Young Writer's Workshop, run by Alison Joseph, SIU Poet.
Laila Abdo (Harrisburg), Robi Mahan (Harrisburg), Marina Shay (Carbondale) also placed as finalists.
Robi Mahan went on to place first in the state competition. In May, she competed in Washington and finished amoung the top twelve competitors. CONGRATULATIONS!!
To read one of the poems Robi recited, click here!
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For more information about the National program and to read poems from the Poetry Out Loud Anthology
visit the Poetry Out Loud National Website www.poetryoutloud.org |
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