A high school senior from Lincoln, Jake Kramer, won the Nebraska Poetry Out Loud state championship on Saturday, March 12th at the Sheldon Museum of Art in Lincoln. Students from eleven high schools competed in the poetry recitation event after advancing from regional semi-final competitions held in Kearney, Norfolk and Omaha during February.

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

Jake Kramer, a senior at Parkview Christian School and last year’s first runner-up at state finals, won the state championship. His recitations of Dog" by Lawrence Ferlinghetti, "The Cross of Snow" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and "The Listeners” by Walter De La Mare earned him the first place title this year.

Jake will receive a $200 cash award, as well as an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C. There, he will compete in the national Poetry Out Loud competition to be held April 27-29, 2011 for prizes and awards totaling $50,000. His school will also receive $500 to be used toward the purchase of poetry books for its library. Dottie Lamson, Jake’s English teacher at Parkview Christian School, coordinated the Poetry Out Loud program for her school.

Giselle Tran, a sophomore from Central High School in Omaha, placed second in the competition. She wins a $100 cash award, as well as $200 for her school's library to be used toward the purchase of poetry books. Giselle’s English teacher, Ginger Riffel, and English teacher Deron Larson, who coordinates Poetry Out Loud for Central High, were both on-hand to see Giselle perform at state finals.

Sophomore Taylor Gillen from Lincoln Southeast High School placed third in the competition. His school’s program is coordinated by English teacher Ann Quinlan and his English teacher is Paula Damke.

The top three contestants each received an original hand-blown glass trophy, and all eleven students received poetry books courtesy of the Backwaters Press and the University of Nebraska Press, as well as Barnes and Noble gift certificates courtesy of Nebraskans for the Arts.

Judges for the state competition included Allison Hedge Coke, Reynolds Chair of Poetry at the University of Nebraska Kearney, Greg Kosmicki, poet and editor of the Backwaters Press in Omaha, Michael Lyon, morning anchor for KIOS-FM in Omaha and Tricia Parker, the Director of Reading and Writing for the Nebraska Department of Education in Lincoln. Nicole Palof, grants manager for the Nebraska Arts Council, served as accuracy judge.