Livingston named school's top poetry reciter

Carlee Livingston, a junior at Summerland Public Schools, is this year's school winner in the Poetry Out Loud national recitation competition. After submitting video recordings of two of her selections, she learned she had qualified to compete in the state competition, which will be held on Saturday, March 9, at the Sheldon Museum of Art in Lincoln.

Poetry Out Loud got its start in 2005 when a generous donor left their estate to the Poetry Foundation with instructions to make quality poetry more accessible to high school students. Each year, the Poetry Foundation, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, gives away scholarships totaling $50,000 at the national level.

School winners competing at the state level advance through preliminary rounds, and if qualifying, go on to compete at the state final level. The state winner earns an all expense paid trip for two to Washington, DC, where they compete at the national level.