Marshall Fundamental High School Senior Wins Annual Poetry Contest
High school students from across L.A. County competed in the 6th annual L.A. County Poetry Out Loud contest held Feb. 6 at the Actors’ Gang Theater in Culver City.
Seventeen participants recited famous poems from memory in front of a packed house of family and friends. The winner, announced at the close of the event, was Yanelli Soriano, a senior from Marshall Fundamental High School in Pasadena who recited “I Am the People, the Mob” by Carl Sandburg and “Invictus” by William Ernest Henley. The runner-up was Jesie Amaya, a junior from Montebello High School.
“This year’s students came well prepared and were very polished — an impressive group of young people,” said Poetry Out Loud coordinator Shannon Wilkins, LACOE’s specialist in visual and performing arts.
The event featured each competitor standing and reciting two poems. The judging panel was comprised of representatives from the fields of art, education and theater.
By winning the competition, Soriano will go on to compete at the California State Finals of Poetry Out Loud in Sacramento. The winner there will qualify for the National Finals in Washington, D.C.
LACOE organized Poetry Out Loud in partnership with The Actors’ Gang Theatre, the California Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts.