LAKE COUNTY — Intermountain High School student Rachael Weiss will represent Lake County at the Poetry Out Loud state finals, taking place in mid-March in Sacramento.
Weiss, who until recently was home-schooled on Cobb, recited two classical poems ? “Thoughtless Cruelty” by Charles Lamb and “The Listeners” by Walter De La Mare ? during a Sunday, Feb. 10, reception at the Lake County Arts Council”s Main Street Gallery. Weiss also recited an additional poem that she had composed herself.
Poetry Out Loud is a recitation contest for high school students that was launched in 2005 by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation.
“Entries from schools all over the U.S. increase each year,” according to Lake County Poet Laureate Sandra Wade. National finals take place in late April in Washington, D.C.
Introductory remarks and explanations were made by LCAC Executive Director Shelby Posada, Wade and by local author Lorna Sue Sides. Wade reported that several school teachers attending the event expressed an intention to have their students compete for the 2009 contest.
