Zaskia Villa, a senior at Nogales High School in Nogales, Arizona, will represent Arizona at the 10th annual Poetry Out Loud National Finals competition in Washington, D.C., in April. Zaskia claimed the title of 2015 Arizona State Champion on Thursday, March 12, at the State Finals competition in Phoenix.
1st runner-up was Lena Blackmon of University High School in Tucson. 2nd runner-up was Adriana Hurtado of Tri-City High School in Prescott. Jessica Han of Coconino High School in Flagstaff, rounded out the top four.
Judges for the event included Representative Juan Mendez, who also offered opening remarks at the event; writer, performer and printmaker Melissa Dunmore; English Teacher and performer Dr. Matthew Helmers; storyteller, essayist and poet Melanie Madden; Kim Willey, a Program Manager at Free Arts of Arizona and former manager of Arizonaâs Poetry Out Loud program; and Carly Bates, a student at Arizona State University who competed in Poetry Out Loud throughout high school (click here to read more about Carly’s experience).
Poet and teaching artist Tomas Stanton emceed the event. Alberto Ălvaro RĂos, Arizonaâs inaugural Poet Laureate, appeared as a special guest and recited some of his own work for an appreciative audience. State Senator Andrea Dalessandro and Eleanor Billington, Program Manager in the Literature & Arts Education Division of the National Endowment for the Arts, were also in attendence.
A program of the National Endowment for the Arts and The Poetry Foundation, Poetry Out Loud is delivered in all 50 states and three territories through partnerships with the State Arts Agencies. The Arizona Poetry Out Loud program is managed and supported by the Arizona Commission on the Arts, an agency of the State of Arizona.
Participating students compete at the classroom and school level. This year, 43 school-level finalists competed in one of three regional competitions (northern, central or southern) to advance to the state level. Nine students â three from each region â advanced from each regional competition to compete in the State Finals:
Southern Region
- Lena Blackmon â University High School, Tucson, AZ
- Caitlin McCormick â The Gregory School, Tucson, AZ
- Zaskia Natalie Villa â Nogales High School, Nogales, AZ
Central Region
- Oluwatosin Babarinde â Brophy College Preparatory, Phoenix, AZ
- Kyrah Berthiaume â McClintock High School, Tempe, AZ
- Hunter Hazelton â Betty Fairfax High School, Laveen, AZ
Northern Region
- Courtney Hale â Saint Michael Indian School, St. Michaels, AZ
- Jessica Han â Coconino High School, Flagstaff
- Adriana Hurtado â Tri-City College Prep, Prescott
As the Arizona Poetry Out Loud state champion, Villa receives a $200 cash award and an all-expenses-paid trip for herself and a chaperone to the national finals, to be held in Washington, D.C., April 27-29th. Additionally, her school will receive $500 to purchase poetry books for its library.
Photos by Alonso Parra, Lamp Left Media
