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21-11-2008 16:31:38

Erskine student wins poetry out loud state final

     The winners of the Maine State Poetry Out Loud competition were announced recently at the end of a wonderful evening at the Penobscot Theatre in Bangor . The a u d i e n c e was treated to a night of linguistic mastery as Maine 's high school students dazzled while performing under both theater and news camera spotlights.
     The first place winner was Kate Reynolds from Erskine Academy in , while the winner of second place went to Kenny Francoeur from Biddeford High School . Both these students worked hard as they emerged from the initial group of 16 students, finding themselves in a hotly contested final group of five.
     Kate Reynolds enthralled the audience with her rendition of "The Shooting of Dan McGrew," by Robert W. Service, and went on to clinch first place by reciting "The Eagle Poem," by Joy Harjo. Kate, a 15-year-old  sophomore attending Erskine Academy , who in her spare time runs cross country, plays French horn, and sings
Phantom of the Opera, will have no time to rest on her laurels. The price of success at the state level is that Kate will now need to spendtime preparing to represent the state of Maine at the national finals in Washington, D.C. in May.
     The competition winners are not the only ones to benefit from this event, the winner's schools are recipient also. Kate Reynolds receives $200 for winning the Maine state finals, but her school will receive a $500 stipend for the purchase of poetry books.
     The State of Maine Senate will recognize each school winner and their own senator will send recognition from their district to the school winner. The State Champion of the Poetry Out Loud Maine final receives an all expenses-paid trip (with a chaperone) to compete in the National Finals in Washington, DC , on April 30 - May 1.