The Elk County Council on the Arts (ECCOTA) is pleased to announce the winners of the Region 2 contest of Poetry Out Loud®. The first place student winner is AninTruchan from Ridgway Area High School. The second place spot was a tie between Hailey Fleming and Sarah Hasselman, both from Elk County Catholic High School.

Poetry Out Loud – presented in partnership with the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, and the Poetry Foundation – is a national arts education program that encourages the study of great poetry by offering free educational materials and a dynamic recitation competition for high school students across the country. Since the program began in 2005, more than 4.3 million students across the country have participated in Poetry Out Loud.

On Thursday, January 25, 7 student participants from 3 local high schools participated in the Poetry Out Loud contest at the PA Wilds Media Lab in Kane. Students recited works selected from an anthology of more than 1,200 poems. Judges evaluated student performances on criteria including voice and articulation, evidence of understanding, and accuracy.

The National Endowment for the Arts and Poetry Foundation have created free, standards-based curriculum materials to support Poetry Out Loud including a teacher’s guide, lesson plans, an online anthology, posters, and video and audio on the art of recitation. These resources are available for free at PoetryOutLoud.org.

Truchan will advance to the Pennsylvania State Poetry Out Loud contest in March. The state-level champion will receive $200 and will advance to the national finals next spring where $50,000 in awards and school/organizational stipends will be distributed. The representing school or organization of the state champion will receive $500 for the purchase of poetry materials. The first runner-up in each state will receive $100, with $200 for their school or organization. The Poetry Foundation provides and administers all aspects of the monetary prizes awarded and travel arrangements for the Poetry Out Loud National Finals.

ECCOTA is a regional partner with the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, providing services, programming, and grant funding to Elk, Cameron, Forest, McKean, and Potter Counties. To learn more about the art programming and grants that ECCOTA offers to youth and adults, visit ECCOTA.com.

To learn more about the Pennsylvania Poetry Out Loud contest visit PoetryOutLoud.org.