High School Poet Winner Ready For National Competition

Levi Lowe, a Sophomore at Sonora High School, won the state competition last week and will be representing the state of California at the National Poetry Out Loud Competition.

Lowe was Wednesday’s KVML “Newsmaker of the Day”.

Levi recited “A March in the Ranks Hard-Prest, and the Road Unknown” By Walt Whitman in Round 1 of the competition.  Lowe advanced to Round 2 and then there was a final round. There were only eight California finalists in the last round of state finals.

The Poetry Out Loud contest is a student competition put on locally by the Tuolumne County Arts Alliance. According to BZ Smith, who judged the local competition this year and who has organized the competition in the past, “Levi’s performance was very, very, strong and all the judges thought he would be strong at the state level.” According to Smith there were about 30,000 other students competing.

Tuolumne County Arts Alliance Executive Connie O’Connor says, “Jonathon has been a beacon and instrumental in paving the way in coaching and inspiring students to do this contest.” She says, “It takes a lot to do this, it really is a family affair, in terms those who donate and participate locally.”

Lowe will compete at the National Level with 53 other state champions at the George Washington University in Washington, DC on April 28, 2015. The Poetry Out Loud semifinals will take place from 6:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. PDT. Nine finalists will advance to the National Finals the following day. The competition will be webcast on the National Endowment for the Arts’ website here.

The “Newsmaker of the Day” is heard every weekday morning on AM 1450 KVML at 6:45, 7:45 and 8:45 AM.