Mariah Brooks, a junior at Springfield Southeast High School, competed in the national Poetry Out Loud contest May 3 in Washington, D.C. The contest is a national poetry recitation competition that creates a platform for high school students across the U.S. to use poetry as a form of artistic expression. Brooks earned her way to the national competition by taking the title of statewide champion for Illinois in March, and Brooks represented the top performers for the central Illinois region this week in the nation’s capital. During the semifinal rounds, Brooks placed among the top 24 of 53 competitors at the national level. She recited the same three poems that helped her obtain both the regional and statewide champion title: Negative by Kevin Young, Children of the Poor by Gwendolyn Brooks and Let the light enter by Frances Harper. During her journey to D.C., Brooks was accompanied by her mother, Southeast teacher Theresa Holton, and the regional and state contest organizer, Sheila Walk of the Springfield Area Arts Council.
This article appears in May 5-11, 2016.
