LHHS senior to compete at national event

WASHINGTON -- Lake Hamilton High School senior Sydney Bayless will compete this week in the National Endowment for the Arts' Poetry Out Loud program.

Bayless will be among 53 students who made the national finals out of 310,000 competitors in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The students will compete Tuesday and Wednesday in D.C. for an opportunity to win a grand prize of $20,000 and the title of national champion. About 3.3 million students have taken part in the dynamic recitation competition since 2005.

"We know that these 53 students have made it to the Poetry Out Loud National Finals through hard work, talent and confidence, but also with the support and encouragement of their teachers, peers, families, and states," said Jane Chu, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts.

"Whether it's a classroom competition or the national finals, it is always a joy to see the students' enthusiasm for poetry and dedication to expressing the poems' beauty and meaning to the audience."

Poetry Out Loud is a national initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the Poetry Foundation and the state arts agencies that encourage high school students to learn more about poetry, both classic and contemporary, through memorization and performance.

"It's exciting when a high school student finds a personal connection with a poem committed to memory, whether it was written one year or 100 years ago," said Henry Bienen, president of the Poetry Foundation. "The dramatization and recitation of classic and contemporary poems can strike a deep chord proving that poetry is both timeless and timely."

The state champions will compete Tuesday in three semifinal rounds from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Lisner Auditorium at George Washington University in D.C. The top nine finalists will advance to the finals on Wednesday at Lisner from 7-9:15 p.m., hosted by poet Elizabeth Acevedo and featuring a performance by cellist, composer and storyteller Ben Sollee.

Both days of competition will be available through a live, one-time-only webcast at http://www.arts.gov. Schools and organizations that wish to organize a viewing party of some or all of the competition can register at http://www.arts.gov. Join the conversation on Twitter and Instagram using #POL17.

Judges for the finals include poet and teacher Marilyn Chin, founder of the Pink Line Project Philippa Hughes, poet and collaborative artist Valerie Martínez, poet and teacher Adrian Matejka, and playwright and former artistic director of Lookingglass Theatre Company Andrew White. Both events are free and open to the public.

The 53 state champions also have the opportunity to compete in the Poetry Ourselves competition by submitting an original work of poetry in one of two categories: either a written poem or a video of a spoken poem. The two winners and runners-up will be selected by poet Naomi Shihab Nye and announced Wednesday at the finals.