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Congratulations to the Alabama Poetry Out Loud winners for 2012
Original Poetry -...Miss Doris Anne Darbouze from Auburn
National recitation - Miss Margaret "Peggy" Payne from Mooresville
Alabama Has a New Poetry Champion - Margaret Payne
On Presidents’ Day, when most of Alabama’s high school students were home taking a well-deserved break from studies and classes, a group of 22 highly dedicated students traveled from all over the state with their teachers and supportive family members to the Alabama Shakespeare Festival in Montgomery to participate in the state finals of Poetry Out Loud. Last year, Alabama’s Champion went on to Washington D.C. to become the National Poetry Out Loud Champion for 2011. This year, Alabama’s new State Champion, Margaret Payne, from St. Peter’s Academy in Limestone County, is hopeful that she may follow in the footsteps of last year’s champion, Youssef Biaz, from Auburn High School. In fact, she spent a good deal of time studying the video clips of his recitations in order to inspire and improve her own technique. “Peggy was very close to Youssef last year in her scores. When I saw her name on the list of regional winners, I knew she would have a good chance of making it to the top this year,” reported Diana Green, Arts in Education Program Manager at the Alabama State Council for the Arts. “When I heard her first recitation during our finals on Monday, I was amazed at how much she had improved and grown in the maturity of her recitations since last year. It does not surprise me that our judges chose her to represent our state this year in Washington DC. Regardless of whether or not she places nationally, I will be proud to have her representing Alabama in the national competition this May.”
Poetry Out Loud was piloted eight years ago when National Endowment for the Arts chairman, Dana Gioia, partnered with the Poetry Foundation to design a program that would bring the love of poetry as it was meant to be, as an oral art form, back into the lives and curriculum of high school students across the nation. After a very successful year of implementation in Washington DC, the program went “viral,” with each state arts agency agreeing to host its own state competition, sending a state champion to the national finals in Washington. Alabama high school teachers are enthusiastic about the program’s impact. At New Hope High School in Cullman, Alabama, every single English class competes. 400 students participated this year. Lead Poetry Out Loud teacher Anita Richter said that that having every student participate creates a great deal of pride among students for their class representative. “The day after the competition, the whole school is talking about the results of the poetry contest. Yes, the POETRY contest. How cool!!”
Alabama has added its own unique element to the program, providing an opportunity for students to recite poetry that they themselves have written. All the students who become school winners are invited to a Finding Your Voice workshop, where they are coached in the interpretation of classic poetry, poetry recitation techniques, and the writing of poetry. A state award is given to the top winners in this original poetry recitation contest. This year’s winner was Doris Anne Darbouze, from Auburn High School.
Alabama’s Poetry Out Loud program is administered by the Alabama State Council on the Arts in partnership with the Alabama Alliance for Arts Education. Another fairly new partner to the program is the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, that provides the venue and professional production crew to enhance the state finals. ASF Artistic Director, Geoffrey Sherman states, “This is just the sort of event we should have in our theatre.” As the director of Alabama’s state theatre, Mr. Sherman believes in encouraging young people in the art of performance. And, many of the students choose Shakespeare’s work to recite.
Additional partners that have held regional competitions for Alabama are the University of South Alabama, Alabama State University, The Arts Council of Tuscaloosa, and the University of Alabama, Huntsville. The Alabama Writer’s Forum provides cash prizes for the top two scoring students in the Original Poetry Competition.
For further information, please contact Diana F. Green, Arts in Education Program Manager, at the Alabama State Council on the Arts.
334/242-4076 Ext. 241
diana.green@arts.alabama.gov
*Press Release for POL provided by Barbara Reed
Alabama State Council on the Arts
barbara.reed@arts.alabama.gov
Alabama Arts Education Showcase: Celebrating Arts Education!
The Alabama Alliance for Arts Education (AAAE) is pleased to announce the first annual Alabama Arts Education Showcase: Celebrating Arts Education! AAAE is now accepting submissions of visual and performing arts and creative writings—poetry and short stories, through March 31, 2012. All work must be submitted electronically with a maximum time limit of five minutes. Selected submissions will be posted on the homepage of the AAAE website www.alaae.org as well as Facebook and Twitter.
ENTRY GUIDELINES
Submission: ALAlliance@bellsouth.net
Format: jpeg file, mp3, Microsoft Word Document (Creative writings may be recited or typed), or video
Entry Fees: None
Required Information:
Title
Artist Name
E-mail Address
School or Organization name (if applicable):
Artist Statement (max 150 words)
OUR MISSION
AAAE supports and advocates for policies, practices, and partnerships
that promote excellence in arts education.
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We believe...
that all Alabamians should have equal opportunities to discover and
to develop their talents. -
We believe...
that all Alabamians should have a sequential and comprehensive
education in the arts. -
We believe...
that all Alabamians should gain enough knowledge about the arts in order to understand their own cultural heritage and the cultural heritage of others.
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