(EDITOR'S NOTE: The following is a press release from Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School.)

On Saturday, March 3, students from all over Massachusetts competed in the regional semifinals of Poetry Out Loud, a national poetry recitation contest administered in Massachusetts by the Huntington Theater in Boston. Lincoln-Sudbury junior Meredith Derecho was one of the finalists who will be moving on to the State Finals on Sunday, March 11 at 9:30 a.m. in the Old South Meeting House in Boston. Admission is free and open to the public.

Meredith had earned her spot as the Lincoln-Sudbury representative on Feb. 11. On that night, 12 Lincoln-Sudbury students gathered with parents, friends, teachers, and community members at Bemis Hall in Lincoln. They were joined by Lincoln-Sudbury alumnus Kevin Devaney, who performed a mixture of original and others’ poetry.

The students who performed in the L-S finals were Ben Gorman, Ezra Truneh, Sarah Stone, Jessica Bodner, Sam Houlihan, Nicholas Laviolette, Greg Howard, Adam Blake, Meredith Derecho, Noveen Mansouri, Julie Rub, and Haley Neil (who won last year’s competition). Some other students who qualified but were not able to attend are Kate Perkins, Leah Kanzer, and Fiora Elbers-Tibbitts. Senior Adam Blake was the runner up to Meredith.

The judges for the event were Lincoln-Sudbury librarian Paula Myers; Acting East Housemaster Jason Medeiros; L-S alumnus Dan Schrager; and L-S School Committee members Kevin Matthews and Radha Gargeya.

Poetry Out Loud is a program supported by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation, who have partnered with state arts agencies of the United States to encourage the nation's youth to learn about great poetry through memorization and recitation. This program helps students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about their literary heritage. Organized at Lincoln-Sudbury by English Teacher Danielle Weisse for this second year, Poetry Out Loud involved approximately 175 students in 10 English classes. 

Twenty-two of those competed in the semi-finals held at the L-S Auditorium on Wednesday, February 8th, 2012. Judges included Housemaster Sandy Crawford and teachers Shawn Lingley, Ben Coleman, Alison Sanders-Fleming, and Jaime Wong. Each winner at the state level will receive $200 and an all-expenses-paid trip with an adult chaperone to Washington to compete for the national championship. A total of $50,000 in awards and school stipends will be awarded at the National Finals.The winner of the National Poetry Out Loud Contest wins $20,000.