Douglas County announces Poetry Out Loud contest Thursday, Feb. 11 at 6 p.m.

Feb. 9, 2015

Gardnerville, Nev. – Students from Douglas County will participate in the Poetry Out Loud school contest at 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 11 at Douglas High School, Room 415. The winner of this competition will advance to the Nevada State Poetry Out Loud contest, being held at KNPB Public Television in Reno at noon Saturday, March 19. The Nevada champion will advance to the Poetry Out Loud National Finals on May 2-4 in Washington, D.C., where $50,000 in awards and school stipends will be distributed.

The 2015 Nevada Poetry Out Loud champion was Dominique Groffman, a Douglas High School senior. Dylan Baker, a senior at College of Southern Nevada High School West in Las Vegas, and Whitney Reyes, a junior at Reno’s Wooster High School, placed second and third. Each received $500 and $500 for their schools to support literary programs.

Poetry Out Loud begins at the local level as students learn about, memorize and finally perform poetry of their choice. Participants advance from school to district competitions and then to the Nevada State Finals, where the stakes are high. The Poetry Out Loud State Champion earns $1,000, wins $1,000 for his or her school to support literary programs, and travels to Washington, D.C., for the national competition.

Poetry Out Loud is a program of the Nevada Arts Council, presented in partnership with Cultural Alliance Nevada, Nevada Department of Education, National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation. It is part of a national program that encourages high school students to learn about great poetry through memorization, performance, and competition. Over the past 10 years, Poetry Out Loud has reached nearly 3 million students, more than 9,500 schools and thousands of teachers across the country.

For more information on the state finals, contact Maryjane Dorofachuk, at (702)486-3738 mdorofachuk@nevadaculture.org or visit www.facebook.com/NevadaPoetryOutLoud. Follow the events on social media using #iampoetryoutloud.