Loyalton Junior Wins Sierra County Poetry Out Loud

SIERRAVILLE — Around 20 people were in attendance at the old Sierraville School in Sierraville on Thursday, January 29, to witness the competition to determine this year’s Sierra County Poetry Out Loud champion. They were treated to two students, both from Loyalton High School, reciting poems they had memorized.

Poetry Out Loud is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts, administered throughout the state by the California Arts Council, and in this county by the Sierra County Arts Council. It is a program for high school students, in which the students memorize and recite poems they have chosen from the anthology provided on the National Poetry Out Loud website. The students’ efforts are judged on physical presence, voice and articulation, interpretation, evidence of understanding, overall performance, and accuracy. Even though the program has been ongoing nationally and statewide since 2005, this was only the seventh year of competition in Sierra County.

In our local competition, each student recites two poems, one in each of two rounds. Once the county champion moves on to the state competition, three poems must be prepared, with the same requirement at the national competition level.

This year’s Sierra County Poetry Out Loud champion is Loyalton High School junior Sienna Larrucea (who finished as the runner-up in the most recent county competition two years ago). The poems she memorized and recited were “We Wear the Mask,” by Paul Laurence Dunbar, and “On Summer,” by George Moses Horton. As a reward for her first-place finish, Sienna received a check from the Sierra County Arts Council for $250 and a nicely-bound copy of Walt Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass,” a gift from Virginia Hamisak, a Kansas resident who is a friend of The Mountain Messenger and the Downieville Library. Additionally, Sienna and a chaperone will receive an all-expenses paid trip to Sacramento to represent Sierra County at the state finals, March 8-9. The winner of that competition will represent California at the National Poetry Out Loud finals in Washington, D.C., April 27-29.

This year’s runner-up in the Sierra County competition is Logan Harris-Devlin, a freshman at Loyalton High School. She earned that designation with the poems “Low-Tide,” by Edna St. Vincent Millay, and “Fire and Ice,” by Robert Frost. And, she was rewarded with a check for $150. However, her “work” is not quite finished, for she must be prepared to represent Sierra County at the state finals in the event that the county champion is unable to attend.

It probably goes without saying — but must be said, anyway — that an event like this one would not be possible without the efforts of several people. Even though she was not able to attend the event, Amber Baca-Sainsbury, Executive Director of the Sierra County Arts Council, completed the grant work necessary to underwrite the awards and provided the participation certificates. Siobhan Markee, English teacher at Downieville High School, provided times for presentations about the program, and initially had two students who planned to participate. Sienna Larrucea presented the program to other students at Loyalton High School, thus providing the students who actually participated. The criteria judges for the event were Peggy Daigle, Jill Makoutz, and Taylor Murphy-Geiszler. The accuracy judge was Cindy Ellsmore. Scorekeeper was Joshua Gieszler. And, the prompter was Laura Marshall. Please extend a word of thanks should you see any of these folk.

And, of course, extend a word of congratulations to our two student participants: Logan Harris-Devlin and Sienna Larrucea. It is not an easy thing to stand in front of a group of people, some of whom may be strangers to you, and risk yourself by reciting poetry that you have memorized. So, these two are to be applauded not just for how well they did, but also for the courage to do it at all. And, thank you to them for reminding us how powerful poetry is, not just as entertainment, but also as words and emotions that speak to our lives. One champion was designated on January 29, but two champions stood before the gathered witnesses.