Poetry Out Loud

2008 Winners
At our Region 5 competition in December 2008, first prize winners were Devan Ray, a junior at Randolph School in Huntsville, for the Poetry Out Loud anthology competition, and for the original poetry competition a tie between Emanuel Waddell, a sophomore at Bob Jones High School in Madison, and Jesse Lawrence Schaffer, a junior at St. Bernard Preparatory School in Cullman. The Huntsville Literary Association awarded each first prize winner a check for $100, and UAHuntsville awarded them a $1000 scholarship.

The top four in each competition went to the state competition in Montgomery on Saturday, February 28, 2009, at Huntingdon College. Two region 5 students made the top 5 in the state Poetry Out Loud competition, Emanuel Waddell (1st honorable mention) and Devan Ray (second honorable mention). Two region 5 students won first and second place in the state Original Poetry Competition:

1st place, Elizabeth Brasseale, a senior at Catholic High School in Huntsville, for her poem "The GLorification of Larks"

2nd place, Jesse Lawrence Schaffer, a Junior at St. Bernard Preparatory School in Cullman, for his poem "The Breath of Grace."

View all region 5 winners and contestants.

Download press release about state competition (PDF format).

Photos of first prize winners