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Preslie Robertson represented Summerland in the Poetry Out Loud State Finals held at the Sheldon Art Gallery in Lincoln on Sunday. To earn the spot, she won her classroom competition and then the school competition. She then recorded videos of two poems which were evaluated by program representatives. Eleven state finalists were chosen from video submissions. Though not among the top three award winners, Robertson stated that she was nervous at first, "but then just had fun with it."

Courtesy photo

Winning the competition was Amelia Escalante of Bellevue West; in second place was Sophia Bathel of Skutt High School; and third place was awarded to Bryant Peck of Wisner-Pilger. Other high schools represented in the finals were Burwell, Callaway, Cedar Catholic, Gordon-Rushville, Marian, Milford and Wahoo. Escalante will represent Nebraska at the national contest in Washington, DC, in April where she will vie with contestants from the other states and U.S. territories for a piece of the $50,000 in scholarship money being awarded.

Poetry Out Loud National Recitation Contest got its start when the heiress to the Eli Lilly Pharmaceutical fortune left her estate ($250 million) to the National Poetry Foundation with directions to encourage young people to appreciate poetry.