TMI Student Excels In State Poetry Contest

Elizabeth Holmes, a freshman at TMI – The Episcopal School of Texas, was one of five students and the only ninth-grader to make it to the semifinal round – from which a winner and runner-up were chosen – at the Poetry Out Loud state finals, held Feb. 22 in Austin. Contestants all were winners of competitions held in high schools around the state, in which students recite two poems from memory and are judged on poise, voice and articulation, dramatic appropriateness, level of difficulty, evidence of understanding and overall performance. State winners may go on to regional and national competition. Founded in 2005 by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation, the Poetry Out Loud program has competitions in high schools across the country, with some 350,000 students participating last year.