5 Fairfield County Students Among 2016 Poetry Out Loud Finalists

From the Department of Economic and Community Development Office of the Arts:

Middletown, Conn. – Students from 15 Connecticut high schools will compete in the Connecticut State Finals of the 11th annual Poetry Out Loud (POL) national recitation contest. The finals will be held at 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 16 at Torp Theater on the campus of Central Connecticut State University. The Connecticut Office of the Arts stages the program in partnership with Connecticut Humanities.

Supported by the Poetry Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, Poetry Out Loud encourages high school students to learn about poetry through memorization, performance, and competition. The finalists, each a school champion, advanced by receiving top scores at regional competitions held earlier this month in Manchester and Waterbury. They represent 15 of the record 43 Connecticut high schools that participated in this year’s POL program.

Owen Elphick, the 2015 POL State Champion from E.O. Smith High School in Storrs, and a national finalist last year, will return to defend his title.

The finalists from Fairfield County are: Nastasja Haughton from Stamford’s Westhill High School; Trevor Lilly from Wilton High School; Vivian Altopp from Ridgefield High School; Nicole Kearney from Joel Barlow High School in Redding; and Shami Khoshabo from Bethel High School. (For a complete list of state POL finalists, click here.)

The POL program began in the schools with classroom workshops facilitated by visiting poet-teachers. The workshops prepared students for classroom and then school-wide poetry contests. The top performer from each school advanced to the regional competition. The Connecticut State Champion advances to the National Finals, which will take place from May 2-4, 2016, in Washington, D.C.

The NEA and the Poetry Foundation provide state arts agencies with free, standards‐based curriculum materials. These include an online poetry anthology containing more than 800 classic and contemporary poems, a teacher’s guide, lesson plans, posters, and video and audio on the art of recitation. These resources are available at www.poetryoutloud.org.

Poetry Out Loud Awards

Students who participate in the official Poetry Out Loud program are eligible to compete in the state and National Finals in 2015‐16. Each state champion will receive $200 and an all‐expenses‐paid trip to Washington, D.C. to enable him or her to compete for the national championship. The state champion’s school also receives a $500 stipend for the purchase of poetry books. The first runner‐up in each state will receive $100, with $200 for his or her school library. Poetry Out Loud will award a total of $50,000 in cash and school stipends at the National Finals, including a $20,000 award for the Poetry Out Loud National Champion. For further information on Poetry Out Loud, visit www.poetryoutloud.org.

About Connecticut Humanities

Connecticut Humanities is a nonprofit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, which funds, creates and collaborates on hundreds of cultural programs across Connecticut each year. It is headquartered in Middletown. Learn more by visiting www.cthumanities.org.

About the Connecticut Office of the Arts

The Office of the Arts is dedicated to making the arts accessible to all state residents and visitors. The office is funded by the State of Connecticut and the National Endowment for the Arts and receives support from other public and private sources. Learn more here.