Tenth grader, Savannah Hillebrand, won the Poetry Out Loud recitation contest.  Twenty-three New Gate students competed in this two-day event on campus, with five finalists going on to recite on the second day. Runner up was Beth Osborne-Schwartz who is in ninth grade at New Gate. Savannah will now compete at the state level in Tallahassee in March with students from 77 other Florida high schools for a shot at the national competition in Washington, D.C. in April. Poetry Out Loud (www.poetryoutloud.org) is a national recitation competition sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts and The Poetry Foundation meant to keep the art of poetry alive for high school students across the country.

 

A big thank you to the contest judges: former high school principal, Ron Vale; New Gate Board President, Robert Dodd; David Steiling, Ringing College of Art and Design professor of literature and trained poet; Ryan G. Van Cleave, Ringling College of Art and Design professor and published poet; Leah Page, Education Associate at Asolo Theater; Emily Freeman, Education Intern at Asolo Theater; Beth Duda, Florida Studio Theatre Director of Education; Virginia DeMer, Director of Academic Resources at Ringling College of Art and Design; Marjorie el-Kadi,  published poet with a lifelong involvement in education, theater and broadcasting; Margaret Schmidt, university-level educator in English departments in several universities around the world; Paul Cooke, New Gate School math instructor; and Hillary Drinkell, New Gate School Elementary teacher and dean.