Colorado Creative Industries announced today that Kiya Cockrell of Fountain Valley School in Colorado Springs has been named the 2020 Colorado Poetry Out Loud State Champion.
A program of the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation, Poetry Out Loud encourages high school students to learn about poetry through memorization, performance and competition. Poetry Out Loud helps students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence and learn about their literary heritage.
Competing against students from 15 high schools from across the state, Cockrell had the highest scores for her performances of “Ode to the Hotel Near the Children’s Hospital,” by Kevin Young, “Grief” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and “Tomorrow” by Dennis O’Driscoll at the Poetry Out Loud State Finals on Tuesday, March 3rd at Lakewood Cultural Center.
Cockrell will travel to Washington, D.C., in April to represent Colorado at the Poetry Out Loud National Finals. The winner of the national finals will receive a $20,000 scholarship. Sloane Petrasek from Chatfield Senior High is the runner up. Tim Haupt from Liberty High School took third place, and Kaitlynn Clint from Valor Christian High School took fourth place.
Colorado’s Poetry Out Loud program is sponsored by Colorado Creative Industries, housed in the Governor’s Office of Economic Development and International Trade, and the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Lighthouse Writers Workshop.
For more information about Poetry Out Loud in Colorado, visit the Lighthouse Writers website.