ArtsErie News

Winner to Compete in State Finals on March 15

ERIE, PA — ArtsErie announces that Katelyn Clarahan, a home-schooled high school freshman from Franklin, Pa., has been selected as the winner of the regional finals of the Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest. Poetry Out Loud is a national arts education program, created by the National Endowment for the Arts and The Poetry Foundation, which encourages the study of poetry by offering educational materials and a dynamic recitation competition to high schools across the country.

ArtsErie and the PA Council on the Arts presented the 2010 regional competition, held Saturday, February 20, 2010 at Allegheny College in Meadville. This year, four students participated in the regional finals. In addition to Clarahan, the following students competed: Lucy Crozier, junior, Meadville High School, Meadville; Rachel Golden, sophomore, Mercyhurst Preparatory School, Erie; and Nate Repasz, senior, NW PA Collegiate Academy, Erie.

Clarahan is the daughter of Robert and Terri Clarahan, who is also her teacher, and a member of the Western PA Christian Orators homeschool speech club, taught by Gaye Welton. She was awarded an all-expense-paid trip to the Pennsylvania state finals for Poetry Out Loud, to be held on Monday, March 15, 2010 at the Governor’s Residence in Harrisburg. There, she will be among 13 students from across the state vying for the opportunity to compete at the national finals, to be held in April 2010 in Washington, D.C., where Poetry Out Loud will award $50,000 in scholarships and school prizes.

Contestants in Poetry Out Loud memorize and recite works they select from an anthology of more than 500 classic and contemporary poems. Students then advance to the National Finals through competitions at the classroom, school, regional and state levels. The judges for the 2010 regional competition were ArtsErie Poetry Out Loud coordinator Lora Zill; as well as Donna Baker; Robyn Crago; Jan Hyatt; and Mary Morris.

The 2009-10 academic year marks ArtsErie's fifth year as regional host for area high schools. High Schools in Erie, Crawford, Warren, Mercer, Lawrence, Venango, Forest, McKean, Potter, Elk and Cameron were eligible to compete as part of ArtsErie's region.

To receive information about participating in next year’s competition, contact Holly Nowak, ArtsErie’s Arts in Education Program Manager, at (814) 452-3427. Additional information about Poetry Out Loud is available online at www.poetryoutloud.org.