From a competitive field of 12 Delaware high school students, Chelsea Anokye-Agyei, a senior from Hodgson Vo-Tech High School, earned the title of 2019 Poetry Out Loud Delaware State Champion at the state finals held in Smyrna, Del. on Feb. 26. The first runner-up was Samuel McGarvey from Tall Oaks Classical School and the second runner-up was Sarah Stevenson from Milford Senior High School.

Anokye-Agyei’s final recitation, “The Albatross” by Kate Bass, earned her high marks with the judges. The full poem can be found on the Poetry Foundation’s website.

For her winning presentation, Anokye-Agyei will receive $200 and an all-expense-paid trip to Washington with a chaperone to compete at the national championship on April 29 – May 1. Hodgson Vo-Tech High School will receive a $500 stipend for the purchase of poetry materials. Samuel McGarvey, the first runner-up will receive $100, and Tall Oaks Classical School will receive $200 for its school library.

The Poetry Out Loud state competition, sponsored by the Delaware Division of the Arts in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation, is part of a national program that encourages high school students to learn about great poetry through memorization, performance, and competition.

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2019 Poetry Out Loud – Participating Students and High Schools

Delaware State Competition, Tuesday, February 26, 2019 at 7:00 p.m., Smyrna Opera House, Smyrna, Delaware

Cape Henlopen High School Concord High School Dover High School* Hodgson Vo-Tech High School* Indian River High School Laurel Senior High School Milford Senior High School* MOT Charter High School* Mount Sophia Academy* Newark Charter High School*

Red Lion Christian Academy* Sanford School* Seaford Senior High School Sussex Academy of the Arts & Sciences Sussex Central High School* St. Mark’s High School Tall Oaks Classical School* Ursuline Academy* Wilmington Christian School* Wilmington Friends School

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