LAKE COUNTY — Sylvia Manners and Stephanie Lesher were first-place winner and close runner-up, respectively, in the Lake County “Poetry Out Loud” competition.
Both girls are sophomores at Lower Lake High School and students of Jeremy Stock”s honors English class. Both recited Edgar Allan Poe”s poem “Alone.”
Manners said she is passionate about the arts and animation and hopes to pursue a career in computer animation.
Manners and Lesher were joined by classmates in a close competition. George Arroyo recited Maya Angelou”s “Caged Bird” and Sarah Graves shared A.E. Stallings” “Fairy-tale Logic.”
Michelle Page delivered Kate Bass” “Albatross,” Aileen Limon recited Joyce Kilmer”s “Trees” and Luis Ruiz recited the Robert Frost poem “Fire and Ice.”
Eric Moreno recited Percy Bysshe Shelley”s “Love”s Philosophy,” Samuel Pump recited Eve Merriam”s “Catch A Little Rhyme” and Jarret Katras recited Ted Kooser”s “Abandoned Farmhouse.”
The competition was organized by Michele Krueger, a Lake County poet and the Lake County coordinator for California Poets in the Schools.
The state competition takes place Monday in Sacramento. Funding from the California Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation, makes it possible for the Lake County Arts Council to encourage this opportunity for Lake County high school students.
