DPHS Student Wins Poetry Contest
updated: Feb 02, 2010, 11:00 AM

Source: Arts Commission

Kelly Nakashima wins local competition that emphasizes language skill and public speaking; advances to the state finals in Sacramento on Monday, March 15th

Kelly Nakashima, a Freshman at Dos Pueblos High School in Goleta took first place in the Santa Barbara County "Poetry Out Loud" competition on February 1st. Kelly was one of thousands of students across the state to participate in the national recitation contest, a program run by the California Arts Council in the state and started by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to engage high-school students in the presentation of poetry through memorization and performance. Kelly advances to the California state finals in Sacramento on March 15, 2010. At stake are hundreds of dollars on the state competition level and thousands at the national finals of Poetry Out Loud.

Twenty-two high school students competed in last night's County-wide Competition held at the Board of Supervisors Hearing Room on the fourth floor of the County Administration Building in Santa Barbara. Perie Longo, Santa Barbara Poet Laureate Emeritus served as emcee for the evening and a stellar panel of judges included Barry Spacks, Santa Barbara Poet Laureate Emeritus, and published poets Sojourner Kincaid-Rolle, Chryss Yost, and Carol DeCanio.
In addition to Kelly Nakashima, the judges awarded Sarah Friedland of Dos Pueblos High School with the Runner-Up prize and Andrew McCaffery of Laguna Blanca School received Honorable Mention. Faculty members William Woodard from Dos Pueblos High School, Roberta Nye, from Santa Barbara High School and Bojana Hill from Laguna Blanca School were responsible for engaging their students in the Poetry Out Loud program.

"In a world of emails, IMing, texting, sound bites and blips it was glorious fun to spend an evening reveling in the spoken word and the literary contributions of American poets," said Ginny Brush, Executive Director of the County Arts Commission.

"Young people interested in rap and slam contests can be surprisingly interested in classical poetry when it's presented through the Poetry Out Loud competition," said Muriel Johnson, Director of the California Arts Council. "We've seen students from all backgrounds and academic levels embrace this program wholeheartedly. It can change their lives."

Spencer Klavan, a senior at Laguna Blanca was last year's Santa Barbara County Poetry Out Loud winner. Spencer went on to win at the State finals in Sacramento and represented California at the National Poetry Out Loud competition in Washington D.C. last April.

The Poetry Out Loud program seeks to foster the next generation of literary readers by capitalizing on the latest trends in poetry: recitation and performance. Poetry Out Loud competitions start in the classroom, then at the school, region, state, and national finals, similar to the structure of the spelling bee. The national initiative is part of an attempt to bring literary arts to students, a critical need in U.S. schools, according to a 2004 NEA report Reading at Risk that found a dramatic decline in literary reading, especially among younger readers.

For more information on other programs of the Santa Barbara County Arts Commission visit www.sbartscommission.org. General information on Poetry Out Loud National Recitation Competitions can be found at www.cac.ca.gov and www.poetryoutloud.org. Reporters interested in more information about the statewide program may contact California Arts Council communications director Mary Beth Barber at mbarber@caartscouncil.com or 916-322-6588.

PHOTO CREDIT: Nell Campbell

Caption: Participants in the County Arts Commission's annual Poetry Out Loud were (from left to right); Bojana Hill, Laguna Blanca School faculty; Carol DeCanio, poet and judge, William Woodard, faculty Dos Pueblos High School; Sarah Friedland; Runner-UP; Barry Spacks, Santa Barbara Poet Laureate Emeritus and judge, Kelly Nakashima, 1st Place winner; Chryss Yost, poet and judge; Andrew McCaffery, Honorable Mention; Perie Longo, Santa Barbara Poet Laureate Emeritus and emcee for the event; Roberta Nye, faculty Santa Barbara High School; and Sojourner Kincaid-Rolle, poet and judge.

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Pueblos High student Kelly Nakashima named winner Arts Commission Annual County Poetry Loud contest