Poetry Out Loud 2020 State Championship
Congratulations to Mollie Allen from South Burlington High School, Eliza Asante from Vermont Academy, Sadie Chamberlain from Lyndon Institute, Aiden Coli Milton High School, Ethan Lisle Champlain Valley Union High School, Kathleen Mayhew from Saint Johnsbury Academy, Fred Pohlen from Rice Memorial High School, Sam Powers from Woodstock High School, Owen Senesac from Bellows Free Academy – Fairfax, and Eloise Silver Van Meter from Thetford Academy. These students had the highest scores in their region at the semifinals held March 5 and will advance to the championship round held March 16, 2020 via video conference.
You can revisit the semifinals competition here: Region One Recitation, Region Two Recitation.
What’s Next?
Each of the ten finalists will declaim the two poems they recited at the semifinals. Three of those students will move on to the next round, reciting one more poem. The state champion will move on to the National Championship April 27-29 in Washington, D.C.
Vermont PBS will provide a live stream of the Vermont Poetry Out Loud 2020 State Championship March 16. Send an email to Troy Hickman or call him at 802.828.3778 if you’d like to attend the event in person. The event begins at 5 p.m.; student orientation at 4.
To help contain the spread of COVID-19, The Vermont Arts Council has decided to cancel the public Poetry Out Loud competition on Monday, March 16 at Vermont PBS studios.
Given widespread concern about community transmission of COVID-19, it is clearly important to avoid bringing groups of people together from across the state of Vermont, whenever possible. In the end, the safety and well-being of our student contestants and our communities is our paramount concern.
The statewide competition will be conducted via video conferencing, and all of us at the Arts Council and VTPBS will do everything we can to make this a meaningful and successful event for all, despite the present challenges.
Thank You!
Poetry Out Loud is supported in part by a generous grant from the George W. Mergens Foundation and funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. Local sponsors include Northfield Savings Bank and Fothergill Segale & Valley, CPAs.