FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 1, 2016
Christian Farley, a senior at Patuxent High School, won first place in the regional competition for Poetry Out Loud, held on February 20, 2016 at the College of Southern Maryland, Leonardtown campus. Christian’s win marks the first time Calvert County Public Schools (CCPS) has had a first-place winner at the regional level. Christian will now compete at the Maryland State Poetry Out Loud Competition on March 12 at 1:00 p.m. at the Baltimore Museum of Art.
Christian’s faculty sponsors are Lynn Powell, English teacher, and Alan Price, theater and English teacher, both of Patuxent High.
Christian was one of fourteen participants at the regional competition. The Calvert region includes Anne Arundel, Charles, Cecil, Montgomery, Prince Georges and St. Mary’s counties and Baltimore City. He recited three poems: “More Lies” by Karin Gottshall, “Love’s Philosophy” by Percy Bysshe Shelley and “Beautiful Wreckage” by W. D. Ehrhart.
The format of the competition changed somewhat this year. In prior years, each school system held a competition to determine the district winner, who then competed at the regional level. This year, individual schools sent first-place winners directly to the regional competition. Therefore, CCPS had four students competing at regionals. The others are Christen Holmes, Calvert High; Katelynn Csanadi-Schwartz, Huntingtown High; and Lauren Cunningham, Northern High.
Poetry Out Loud is a national poetry recitation competition sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation. The Maryland Arts Council also sponsors and facilitates Maryland’s program.
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Media Contact
Catherine Page
410-535-7428
pagec@calvertcounty.education