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Ryan Olson wins 2020 WHS Poetry Out Loud competition; advances to Feb. 22 State Finals @ Joslyn

Mara Dobesh takes runner-up; Gavin Pokorny finishes third

February 18, 2020

Finalists for the 2020 WHS Poetry Out Loud competition (from left): Hannah Jorgensen, Josh Graber, Caden Tingelhoff, Mara Dobesh (2nd place), Ryan Olson (Champion), Gavin Pokorny (3rd place), Luke Polacek, Jessica Snelling, and Kylee Kenning.

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Finalists for the 2020 WHS Poetry Out Loud competition (from left): Hannah Jorgensen, Josh Graber, Caden Tingelhoff, Mara Dobesh (2nd place), Ryan Olson (Champion), Gavin Pokorny (3rd place), Luke Polacek, Jessica Snelling, and Kylee Kenning.

WHS sophomore Ryan Olson won the Wahoo Poetry Out Loud Championship, held in the Performance-Learning Center on Wednesday, Feb. 12, and will now represent Wahoo at the district competition at the Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha on Saturday, February 22.

In Poetry Out Loud, students recite two poems selected from the Poetry Out Loud website. The participants are graded upon their posture, memorization, recitation, understanding of the poem, and overall performance. 

District winners will advance to the state finals, and the Nebraska winner will win a free trip to Washington D.C. to compete for $50,000 dollars at the national finals.

Olson won with his recitations of the poems “In the Desert” by Stephen Crane, and “Make a Law so That the Spine Remembers Wings” by Larry Levis.

Mara Dobesh finished second in the Wahoo competition, while Gavin Pokorny placed third.

Other participants were Josh Graber, Jessica Snelling, Hannah Jorgensen, Kylee Kenning, Caden Tingelhoff, and Luke Polacek. 

The judges were WHS junior Sam DuBois, WHS Assistance Principal Robert Barry, WPS Director of Learning Dr. Josh Snyder, and WHS Language Arts Instructor Larry Fangman.