Skip navigation

Send this site to a friend

Arts Commission News

Ridgeland High School Student Wins Poetry Out Loud State Finals

DATE:             March 26 , 2007

CONTACT:     Susan Dobbs, Public Relations Director                                       601-359-6031 or sdobbs@arts.state.ms.us

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

JACKSON—The Mississippi Arts Commission is proud to announce that Melissa Cline from Ridgeland High School was the winner of the State Finals of the Poetry Out Loud National Recitation Contest.  The competition, presented in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the Poetry Foundation, is part of a national program to encourage high school students to learn about great poetry through memorization, performance and competition.  High school students from 23 communities across the state participated in the State Finals. 

Melissa performed an outstanding recitation of Mother to Son by Langston Hughes at the competition held on Friday, March 23, 2007 at New Stage Theatre in Jackson.  Melissa is a senior at Ridgeland High School and is a four year member of the school’s theatre program.  She is a five-year band participant, two-year trace runner and is currently a part of the speech and debate team where she has ranked in the top twelve in the nation for oral interpretation.  Melissa is currently the Writer/Director for Mt. Pilgrim Play Productions and plans to study film or theatre in college.  Melissa will represent Mississippi at the Poetry Out Loud National Finals in Washington, DC in early May, 2007.

The runner-up this year was Ryan Breeland of Brookhaven who recited Beauty by Tony Hoagland.  Ryan was last year’s Poetry Out Loud winner and traveled to Washington to the 2006 National Finals.  He is an eighteen year old senior at Brookhaven High School.

The National Endowment for the Arts is a public agency dedicated to supporting excellence in the arts, bringing arts to all Americans and providing leadership in arts education.  Established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government, the Arts Endowment is the largest national funding organization of the arts.

The Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry magazine, is committed to a vigorous presence for poetry in our culture.  One of the largest literary organizations in the world, it exists to discover and celebrate the best poetry and to place it before the largest possible audience.

The Mississippi Arts Commission is a state agency, funded by the Mississippi legislature, the National Endowment for the Arts, The Wallace Foundation and other private sources.  MAC is the official grants making and service agency for the arts in Mississippi. The agency serves as an active supporter and promoter of arts in community life and in arts education.

###

« Back to headlines