Public invited to hear students at Poetry Out Loud State Finals in Reno March 15

The public is invited to the 2014 Nevada Poetry Out Loud Competition State Finals at the Siena Hotel Spa Casino Ballroom in Reno Saturday, March 15, from noon to 3 p.m.

Fifteen students who gained the status of district finalists after a series of local competitions will vie for awards totaling $4,000 for the first, second and third place winners and their respective schools.

Among the 15 readers competing are: Carson High School's Traci Thornton, a junior; Christian Curtis, a Virginia City High School senior; Dominique Groffman, a Douglas High School junior and Christian Schunke a Yerington High School senior.

The Nevada State Champion will represent the Silver State at the National Finals in Washington D.C. in late April, and compete for $50,000 in scholarship and prizes. The 2014 state finalists are:

During the fall and winter months, more than 2,500 remarkable high school-aged students across the state, passionate about poetry and with assistance from family members, coaches and teachers participated in the Ninth Annual Nevada Poetry Out Loud Program in hopes of moving on to the state finals, and then perhaps the National Finals in Washington D.C.

The 2014 state finalists are:

• Elizabeth Louise Alegret – senior, Nevada Virtual Academy, Nevada Statewide Virtual
• Mikayla Bates – sophomore, Elko High School, Elko County
• Christopher Casarez – junior, White Pine High School, White Pine County
• Savannah Rey Christiansen – junior, Pershing County High School, Pershing County
• Christian Curtis – senior, Virginia City High School, Storey County
• Elizabeth Gloeckner – sophomore, Lincoln County High School, Lincoln County
• Dominique Groffman – junior, Douglas High School, Douglas County
• Crystal Hubbard – junior, Eureka County High School, Eureka County
• Princess Jackson – senior, Green Valley High School, Clark County
• Lillian Moravec – senior, Albert M. Lowry High School, Humboldt County
• Christian Schunke – senior, Yerington High School, Lyon County
• Andrea Sposato – senior, Pahrump Valley High School, Nye County
• Traci Thornton – junior, Carson High School, Carson City
• Branden Turner – senior, Mineral County High School, Mineral Country
• Cheyenne Underwood – senior, TMCC Magnet High School, Washoe County

Poet Krista Lukas, a Lake Tahoe native and one of the judges for the Nevada State Finals, will be reading from her collection of poems, “Fans of My Unconscious,” as part of the event.

A national initiative, Poetry Out Loud encourages students to learn about, memorize and finally present poetry - out loud. “The dynamic poetry recitation program focuses on literary heritage through memorization and performance of classic and contemporary poetry,” said Maryjane Dorofachuk, arts learning program coordinator for the Nevada Arts Council.

Participation in the ninth annual Nevada Poetry Out Loud Program was open to all Nevada public, private, charter, parochial and alternative schools, and home school associations.

Free standards-based curriculum materials are available online for Poetry Out Loud at poetryoutloud.org. These resources include poetry anthologies containing more than 650 classic and contemporary poems, a teacher’s guide, video footage of performances from the National Finals, and audio tracks about the art of recitation.

Poetry Out Loud is a program of the Nevada Arts Council, and is co-sponsored by Sierra Arts Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, the Poetry Foundation, and NV Energy. "NV Energy is pleased to enable young people from throughout Nevada to experience the power of the spoken word through poetry and verse. We support Poetry Out Loud because we believe that words transform our world," said Mary Simmons, NV Energy vice president of external strategy.

The Nevada Arts Council, a division of the Nevada Department of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, is the agency charged with ensuring that state and national funds support cultural activity and encourage participation in the arts throughout Nevada.

In addition to providing hundreds of grants to arts and community-based organizations, schools, artists and local municipalities throughout the state, the Arts Council coordinates a variety of statewide programs and activities such as the annual Poetry Out Loud recitation competition for high-school aged students, traveling exhibits, artist residencies, workshops and cultural assessments. For more information, please visit the department’s website at nac.nevadaculture.org/.