For the third consecutive year, a Liberty Bell High School student has won first place in the Eastern Washington Regional Poetry Out Loud contest.
What’s more — demonstrating the strength of the local Poetry Out Loud program — Liberty Bell junior Rowan Post, who took the first-place trophy at the Feb. 5 regional competition in Spokane, was subbing for senior Claire Waichler, who won the local competition on Dec. 17 at The Merc Playhouse in Twisp. Post finished second and was named the alternate for regional competition.
Waichler had to miss the Spokane contest because she was involved in a Junior Olympics Nordic skiing event in California.
Post will now travel to Tacoma on March 7 for the state Poetry Out Loud finals.
The Washington state winner goes to the national finals in Washington, D.C., where $50,000 in awards and school stipends will be distributed.
At Spokane, Post recited “A March in the Ranks, Hard Prest,” by Walt Whitman, and “Powwow at the End of the World,” by Sherman Alexie.
Last year, Liberty Bell’s Liam Daily won the regional competition in Spokane.
The previous year, Tom Zbyszewski, winner of the inaugural local contest, finished second at the state finals after winning the regional contest. The Washington state winner went on to finish first in the 2013 national competition.
The competition, presented in partnership with the Washington State Arts Commission, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Poetry Foundation, the Methow Valley Public School Funding Alliance and Methow Arts, is part of a national program that encourages high school students to learn about poetry through memorization, performance and competition.
