Brittany Wiltz, a student at Natomas Charter School, was named the winner of Sacramento Poetry Out Loud for 2012.
Wiltz placed first in a field of 14 during today's Sacramento County finals at Rosemont High School. Sheridan Smith from Pleasant Grove High School was the runner-up.
The Sacramento Poetry Out Loud competition encourages high school students to learn about great poetry through memorization, performance and competition.
Sacramento Poet Laureate Bob Stanley served as master of ceremonies for the event.
Wiltz will represent Sacramento County at the state finals March 25-26 in Sacramento. The winner at the state level will receive $200 and an expenses-paid trip to participate in the national competition May 13-15 in Washington, D.C. A total of $50,000 in scholarships and school stipends will be awarded at the national finals.
Modeled after the National Spelling Bee, the Poetry Out Loud competition begins in classrooms, with winners advancing to schoolwide, then regional competitions. More than 365,000 students competed nationally in 2010-2011, according to a news release.
Sacramento County's Poetry Out Loud program is supported by the Sacramento County Office of Education, Art Works, California Poets in the Schools, the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission, the Poetry Foundation and the Crocker Art Museum. It also is funded in part by the California Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts.
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