Poetry Out Loud competition growing

WORLAND — This year’s Poetry Out Loud State Finals Competition on March 2 at the Cheyenne Civic Center was the largest in its 15-year history, according to Mary Billiter, arts education specialist for the Wyoming Arts Council.

The Wyoming Arts Council is the annual host for Poetry Out Loud. Billiter said she made a concerted effort in recruiting some schools that had not participated in the competition before.

She said Wyoming has 365 schools, 52 of them being high schools. Last year they had eight high schools registered to compete with six actually competing. Thanks in part to Billiter’s recruitment efforts, this year’s competition saw 17 high schools registered, including Worland and Thunder Basin for the first time, and 14 competing. Billiter noted two of the schools that had registered ended up with not having any interested students.

Worland’s local competition was in January with three competitors and won by junior Jade Hefenieder. Hefenieder, who competes in poetry for Worland High School forensics team, said she enjoys the art and philosophy around poetry.

Winning the local competition, qualified Hefenieder for the state contest. Whereas at the local competition she had to recite two pieces of poetry from among a list provided by the National Poetry Foundation, the national Poetry Out Loud sponsor, at the state contest Hefenieder had to recite three poems from memory.

According to the Wyoming Arts Council website, “The National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation joined together to create Poetry Out Loud, a program that encourages the nation’s youth to learn about great poetry through memorization and performance.”

While Hefenieder did not win at the state finals last week, Billiter said, “What a great contestant you all had. She made you forget you were watching poetry; she made the poetry come alive.”

Billiter said, “Everyone did a great job. It was a tough field and everyone brought their A game.”

Winning first place and $200, plus $500 for their school for poetry supplies was Thunder Basin senior Abbi Wingfield.

Coming in second with just an eight-point difference was Chelsea Elwood of Kaycee High school. Elwood won $100 and $200 for her school.

Just five points separated Elwood from third place Megan Abraham of Lovell.

“We triple checked the scores the scores were that tight,” Billiter said.

According to the Poetry Out Loud website, “Each winner at the state level receives $200 and an all-expenses-paid trip with an adult chaperone to Washington, D.C. to compete for the national championship April 27-29. At the national finals, a total of $50,000 in awards and school stipends is awarded annually.

One of the highlights this year was Gov. Mark Gordon serving as the master of ceremonies, Billiter said. “He is a big lover of poetry,” she said, adding that he read a poem by Percy Bysse Shelley “Ozymandias,” which had been recited by Abraham during the competition.

Gordon also took the time to proclaim March as Youth Art Month. Also in attendance at the competition was State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow and State Auditor Kristi Racines.

Another highlight was the camaraderie between competitors. Billiter said competitors would high five each other after their performance. “They were extremely supportive of each other,” she said.

This year’s judges for the state competition were, Wyoming’s Poet Laureate, Eugene Gagliano, Casper College Instructor and Award-Winning Poet, Chad Hanson, Wyoming author and poet, Mandie Hines, and Alaskan multidisciplinary poet and teaching artist, Christy NaMee Eriksen.

Poetry Out Loud builds on the resurgence of poetry as an oral art form, encouraging the nation’s youth to learn about great poetry through memorization and performance. Students can work on mastering comprehension, public speaking, acting, performance, drama and English skills while building self-confidence and internalizing our rich literary heritage.