Monday, February 11 marked an evening of strong poet performances as this year’s countywide Poetry Out Loud competition featured “potential Emily Dickinsons and Edgar Allen Poes” from across Trinity County.  These young word artists recited and performed works of prose and poetry in hopes of moving forward to state level competitions.  
 

While decisions with art competitions are not always as clear cut as other disciplines, one winner was chosen from among this year’s 8 participants with Mercedes Thao from Hayfork High School rising to the top.  Judah Ottem-O’Connell from Trinity High School was a close 2nd place.  
 

Organized by the Trinity County Arts Council, the Trinity County Office of Education and other local organizations, this annual event did not disappoint with performances from students from across Trinity County.
 

Joanne Tucker, instructional coach from the Trinity County Office of Education describes the benefits of Poetry Out Loud that include inspiring students, “with the confidence to make themselves heard using one of the most powerful tools at their disposal - Art.  Participating in this program is an impactful and often life-changing experience for young artists.  Students interact with the words of the masters, build personal relationships with their works, and create a sense of shared ownership over their artwork, branded by the student's own technique of volume, pitch, pace, and personal point of view.” 
 

The Poetry Out Loud competition begins with school teams and classroom practices that lead to a school-wide poetry recital competition. The top-ranking participants from each school compete at the county level.  Trinity County winners receive $100 and the opportunity to compete at the California state level, where they perform 3 memorized poems.  At the state and national levels, contestants are also invited to submit their own original poems. With more than 40 contestants in the state competition, the top scorer will win $200 and a place in the National Finals competition. The national champion wins $20,000 in college scholarship funds.  
 

We hope to report back on Ms. Thao’s performance at the state level competitions and encourage all students to apply for next year’s competition.