Sidney Smart Wins Wahoo's 2022 Poetry Out Loud Championship!
Smart ekes past runner-up Jesse Stebbing; advances to State Finals
Launch the media gallery 1 player“Poetry is thoughts that breathe, and words that burn.” –Thomas Gray
For many year’s students in Mr. Larry Fangman’s English 10 classes have participated in Poetry Out Loud, a national arts education program and annual regional/state/national competition that encourages the study of great poetry, and helps students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about literary history and contemporary life.
This year, at the school level, the judges have spoken!
Sophomore Sidney Smart defeated nine other finalists to win the 2022 Wahoo High School Poetry Out Loud Championship in the Performance-Learning Center on Friday, February 11.
Smart recited the poems “Hope is the Thing with Feathers” by Emily Dickinson and “The Last Laugh” by Wilfred Owen. She narrowly defeated Jesse Stebbing in a tight competition.
Avery Wieting captured the third-place trophy. Other students who qualified for the school finals out of the 90 tenth-grade participants in Mr. Fangman’s classes were Marcus Glock, Cadence Bailar, Gabby Raney, Makenzie Sutton, Lanta Hitz, Kassidy Beavers, and AJ Scott.
Smart advances to the state finals, which will be judged by video this year because of the COVID pandemic. Smart recorded her poem recitals and submitted them to the state judges.
The winner of the state finals wins a $200 prize, $500 for his/her school to buy poetry books, and an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C. for the Poetry Out Loud National Finals on May 13-15. The state runner-up earns $100 and $200 for his/her school to purchase poetry books.
A total of $50,000 in awards and school stipends will be given at the Poetry Out Loud National Finals, including a $20,000 award for the National Champion.
Congratulations to the 2022 WHS Poetry Out Loud Finalists, back row (from left): AJ Scott, Marcus Glock, WHS English Teacher Larry Fangman (sponsor), Avery Wieting. Front row: Gabby Raney, Cadence Bailar, Jesse Stebbing, Sidney Smart, Makenzie Sutton, Lanta Hitz, and Kassidy Beavers.
