RENO, Nev. (KRNV & MyNews4.com) -- More than 2,600 Nevada high school students will be competing in Eighth Annual Nevada Poetry Out Loud State Finals at Reno’s Whitney Peak Hotel, formerly CommRow, Saturday March 16, noon to 3 p.m.
At the Nevada finals, the first place winner receives $1,000 and another $1,000 is awarded to the student’s school. Second and third place winners earn $500 each, with a match to their schools. The champion also wins a trip to Washington, D.C., to compete for the national title and for a chance to share $50,000 in prizes and school stipends awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation.
The Nevada Poetry Out Loud State Finals are free and the public. Starting at the classroom level, teachers are provided with free multimedia curriculum materials – a poetry anthology, audio guide, teachers’ guide, posters and comprehensive
website, all aligned to national standards – to augment their regular poetry curriculum with poetry recitation and a school-level competition. The student winner and a chaperone from each participating school district receive support to attend the finals in Reno.
The Eighth Annual Nevada Poetry Out Loud State Finals is sponsored by the Nevada Arts Council, NV Energy, Nevada Alliance for Arts Education, National Endowment for the Arts and The Poetry Foundation.
Finalists named so far include Holleah LeBaron, Lincoln County High School; Graciela Maya-Joseph, Owyhee High School; Breanna Taylor, Carson Valley Middle School (9th grade); Hannah Perazzo, Churchill County High School; and Monica Williams, Desert Pines High School. Semi-final competitions still to come are in Feb. 21 in Storey County, 1 p.m., Virginia City High School Library; Humboldt County, 10 a.m., Lowry High School; Lyon County, 4 p.m., Jeanne Dini Cultural Center and Washoe County, 5:30 p.m., KNPB Channel 5 Community Room.
