Hannah Sturgis, a junior from POLYTECH High School, is among the 53 Poetry Out Loud champions from every state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands who will participate in the National Finals of Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest. The finals will be held at Lisner Auditorium in Washington, DC on May 3-4, 2016 and can be viewed on the live, one-time only webcast at poetryoutloud.org/competition/national-finals.

Hannah, a student from Smyrna, Delaware, received an all-expenses-paid trip to compete in the National Finals after advancing from high school and state-level competitions. For the National Finals, Hannah will recite three poems including Blackberrying by Sylvia Plath during the Region 1, Semifinals to be held on Tuesday, May 3 from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m.

“I love poetry because I do not yet fully understand it. I discover something new from reciting, reading or listening to it every day. It is beautiful and difficult; it pushes me to become better at it,” says Hannah.

Poetry Out Loud is a national arts education program that encourages the study of great poetry by offering educational materials and a dynamic recitation competition to high schools across the country. Information on Poetry Out Loud is available from the Delaware Division of the Arts at http://artsdel.org/poetryoutloud/ and http://www.poetryoutloud.org/.

About the Delaware Division of the Arts
The Delaware Division of the Arts is an agency of the State of Delaware. Together with its advisory body, the Delaware State Arts Council, the Division administers grants and programs that support arts programming, educate the public, increase awareness of the arts, and integrate the arts into all facets of Delaware life. Funding for Division programs is provided by annual appropriations from the Delaware General Assembly and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. For more information about the Delaware Division of the Arts, visit artsdel.org or call 302-577-8278.

Contact: Leeann Wallett, Program Officer, Communications and Marketing
302-577-8280, leeann.wallett@delaware.gov

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HANNAH STURGIS TO REPRESENT DELAWARE IN 2016 POETRY OUT LOUD NATIONAL FINALS IN WASHINGTON, DC

 

From a competitive field of more than eighteen Delaware high schools students, Hannah Sturgis, a junior from POLYTECH High School, earned the title of 2016 Poetry Out Loud Delaware State Champion at the state finals held in Smyrna, Delaware, on February 23. The first runner-up was Brandon Dawson from Middletown High School, and the second runner-up was Jordan McMillan from Sanford School.

Hannah Sturgis’s final recitation, Infelix by Adah Isaacs Menken, earned her high marks with the judges. The full poem can be found on the Poetry Foundation’s website.

For her winning presentation, Hannah Sturgis will receive $200 and an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, DC, with a chaperone to compete at the national championship from May 2-4, 2016. POLYTECH High School will receive a $500 stipend for the purchase of poetry books. Brandon Dawson, the first runner-up will receive $100, and Middletown High School will receive $200 towards the purchase of poetry books.

The Poetry Out Loud state competition, sponsored by the Delaware Division of the Arts in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation, is part of a national program that encourages high school students to learn about great poetry through memorization, performance, and competition.

To learn more about the State Finalists and for hi-res photos from the event, please see our page here.

From left to right:
Al Mills, Delaware Poet Laureate; Hannah Sturgis, 2016 Winner; Jordan McMillan, Second Runner-Up; Brandon Dawson, First Runner-Up; Nnamdi Chukwuocha, Delaware Poet Laureate. Photo Credit: Kathleen Buckalew

Did you attend the event?
Tag us at @ArtsDelaware on Facebook and Twitter. Use the hashtags: #POL16, #iampoetryoutloud, and #Delaware 

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2016 Poetry Out Loud – State Finalists

Name	School
Tori Baker	Brandywine High School
Phoebe Callard	Cape Henlopen High School
Jessica Pigeon	Caravel Academy
Christian Wills	Concord High School
Brandon Dawson	Middletown High School
Rebecca Pereira	Mount Sophia Academy
Natalie Nwanekwu	Newark Charter Jr./Sr. High School
Shannon Murray	Padua Academy
Hannah Sturgis	Polytech High School
Samuel Ogunwande	Red Lion Christian Academy
Jordan McMillan	Sanford School
Dylan Norman	Seaford High School
Abbey Thompson	St. Elizabeth High School
Mollie Russell	St. Mark’s High School
Kana Turley	Tall Oaks Classical School
Jane Krukiel	Ursuline Academy
Samantha Drummond	Wilmington Christian School
Gustavo Silveira	Wilmington Friends School

 

To learn more about each high school student and their reasons for participating in Poetry Out Loud, please read their biographies here.

About Poetry Out Loud

The Delaware Division of the Arts sponsors the Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest program in Delaware schools and the state finals. Competition begins at the classroom level in the fall and culminates with the state finals each spring. Eighteen schools and over 2,000 Delaware students participated in the Poetry Out Loud program in the current academic year. The Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest competition is presented in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation. For more details about the partnership and program, see the program overview here.

About the Delaware Division of the Arts

The Delaware Division of the Arts is an agency of the State of Delaware. Together with its advisory body, the Delaware State Arts Council, the Division administers grants and programs that support arts programming, educate the public, increase awareness of the arts, and integrate the arts into all facets of Delaware life. Funding for Division programs is provided by annual appropriations from the Delaware General Assembly and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. For more information about the Delaware Division of the Arts, visit artsdel.org or call 302-577-8278.

Contact: Leeann Wallett, Program Officer, Communications and Marketing, 302-577-8280, leeann.wallett@delaware.gov

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Hannah Sturgis, a sophomore from POLYTECH High School, won Delaware’s Poetry Out Loud state competition on February 24, 2015, held at the Smyrna Opera House. Sturgis’ recitations of “Snake Oil, Snake Bite,” by Dilruba Ahmed; “The Applicant,” by Sylvia Plath; and “Battle-Hymn of the Republic,” by Julia Ward Howe earned her high marks with the judges. The first runner-up was Kate Goorland from Ursuline Academy, and the second runner-up was Eden Negusse from Glasgow High School.

For her winning presentation, Hannah Sturgis will receive $200 and an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, DC, with a chaperone to compete for the national championship on April 27-29, 2015. POLYTECH High School will receive a $500 stipend for the purchase of poetry books. Kate Goorland, the first runner-up will receive $100, and $200 goes to Ursuline Academy for the purchase of poetry books.

Walmart provided $25 gift cards for all sixteen student finalists and their teachers. At the National Finals, The Poetry Foundation will be awarding up to $50,000 in scholarships and school stipends, with a $20,000 college scholarship awarded to the Poetry Out Loud National Champion.

The state Poetry Out Loud competition, sponsored by the Delaware Division of the Arts in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation, is part of a national program that encourages high school students to learn about great poetry through memorization, performance, and competition.