SHS Sophomore Madalyn Lobmeyer of Seward Wins “Local Poetry Out Loud” recitation contest!

December 04, 2017

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SHS Sophomore, Madalyn Lobmeyer of Seward was selected the Poetry Out Loud Champion at Seward High and the representative to the Regional contest in Norfolk next spring: selected over 40 other contestants in the local contest at SHS.  She presented the memorized poem “The Last Laugh” by Wilfred Owen.  First runner up was Thomas Bosmeniel-SHS Senior, with the poem “Battle Hymn of the Republic” by Julia Ward Howe.  Third place was awarded to SHS Senior Kenna Gottschalk presenting the poem “The Daring One” by Edwin Markham.

Other awards were presented to Outstanding Sophomore presenters-(Tie) to Cordell Vrbka presenting Ted Kooser’s “So This is Nebraska” and Hannah Bales presenting “Bookshelf of the God by Jeffrey Skinner.  Bailey Mooney was “Outstanding Junior” presenting Invictus by William Ernest Henley and John Mark Myers was named “Outstanding Senior” with his presentation of “In Flander’s Field” by John McCrae.  All of the winners received engraved medallions, honoring their award sponsored by the Seward Arts Council.

The “Poetry Out Loud 2017” recitation contest was held at the new Theater of Seward High School on Monday, December 04, 2017.  It is a local Poetry Recitation Contest to select a representative for the Regional contest.  Speech coach at SHS Clark Kolterman served as the emcee for the evening.

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Local SHS students competing in the contest and their poems included….

1. Ambria Van Engelenhoven              Catch a Little Rhyme        Eve Merriam
2. Abbey Bimler                                          The Road Not Taken          Robert Frost
3. Macy Gebhardt                                      Mowing                                    Robert Frost
4. Colton Hill                                                Fable for Blackboard        George Starbuck
5. Cordell Vrbka                                          So This is Nebraska             Ted Kooser
6. Jonathan Svoboda                               300 Goats                               Naomi Nye
7. ME Porter                                                  Dawn Chorus                        Sasha Dugdale
8. Alyssa Owens                                           Auto-Lullaby                         Franz Wright
9. Ethan Ideus                                              Fire and Ice                             Robert Frost
10. Aaron Block                                Acquainted with the Night        Robert Frost
11. Sean Martin                                             Catch a Little Rhyme        Eve Merriam
12. Rochelle Hurley                                     Carousel                                   Jaya Savige
13. Amber Gadeken                   Across the Bay                      Donald Davie
14. Destiney Grunke                        The Arrow and the Song            Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
15. Jill Johnson                                              Faith                                           David Baker
16. Jordan Covert                                         Yellowtail                                Mary Morris
17. Wade Kelley                                             She Walks in Beauty          Lord Byron
18. Jordan Collins                                        Author’s Prayer                   Ilya Kaminsky
19. Ariana Anderson                                   Mrs. Adam                              Kathleen Norris
20. Alexis Hiser                                               Difference                               Stephen Vincent Benet
21. Alexandra Sierra                   Stopping By the Woods                   Robert Frost
22. Cassandra Kottich                                After the Winter                  Claude McKay
23. Hannah Bales                                          Bookshelf of the God        Jeffrey Skinner
24. Bria Schulz                                                300 Goats                               Naomi Nye
25. Larissa Embree             Hope is the Thing with Feathers          Emily Dickenson
26. Garrett Erickson                                    Fire and Ice                             Robert Frost
27. Edward McConnell                              Adam’s Curse                        William Butler Yates
28. Madelein Woolard                              Road Not Taken                   Robert Frost
29. Gillian Mettenbrink                            Song                                           Edmund Waller
30. Haley Marshall                                       Yellowtail                                Mary Morris
31. Victoria Rudebusch                            End of Summer                    Stanly Kunitz
32. Mikayla Rudebusch                             Broken Promises                 David Kirby
33. Taylor Brodecky                                                      Testimonial                            Rita Dove
34. Nolan Whitney                        Anthem for Doomed Youth        Wilfred Owen
35. Madalyn Lobmeyer                             The Last Laugh                      Wilfred Owen
36. Jarod Harris                                             Numbers                                  Mary Cornish
37. Kenna Gottschalk                                 The Daring One                    Edwin Markham
38. Peyton Davis-Schmit                          Entirely                                     Louis MacNeice
39. John Mark Myers                                  In Flanders Fields                John McCrae
40. Bailey Mooney                                       Invictus                                                      William Ernest Henley
41. Thomas Bosmeniel            Battle Hymn of the Republic         Julia Ward Howe

The students were evaluated on Physical Presence, Voice and Articulation, Dramatic Appropriateness, Evidence of Understanding, Overall Performance and Accuracy. 

Judges for the evening were Ms. Melissa Pohl-Accuracy Judge, with Poetry Judges-Eric James-Student at Concordia University, Erin Collings-School District of Seward Curriculum, Nancy Schulz-East Butler HS (Retired).  Pam Franck and Kyle Hinkel of the SHS Math Department compiled the judge’s tallies and presented the results.  Riley Nuttleman, SHS Senior, served as the lighting and sound tech crew and assisted in the tally room.

Pippa White of Lincoln, a nationally acclaimed writer and actress, served as our SHS “Poetry Out Loud” Guest Artist in Residence in November.  The state level of the Poetry Out Loud Contest is sponsored by the Nebraska Arts Council under the supervision of Anne Alston and nationally by the national Poetry Foundation and National Endowment for the Arts!

Madalyn will now compete at the Regional level in Norfolk in the spring and hopefully at the State Contest in March in Lincoln.  At the regional she will recite two poems and at the state level three poems.