Tyrone Student Advances to Poetry Out Loud State Finals
2022-23 Poetry Out Loud local winner Ashlynn McKinney
Tyrone Area High School senior Ashlynn McKinney has been named one of 14 regional champions in the 2023 Pennsylvania Poetry Out Loud (POL) State Finals, organized by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.
“I feel very excited to have won,” said McKinney. “I knew going into it that this competition would be harder than the first, which was also difficult, but I liked the feeling of accomplishment after making the videos to submit, and winning just felt like an extra joy. I also felt very blessed to have had a lot of support from my teachers and the ability to have access to resources to help me do my best.”
McKinney won Tyrone Area’s live competition on December 13 and the Pennsylvania Region 12 virtual competition on January 20 for local champions in Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Fayette, Somerset, and Westmoreland Counties.
“All [of] the students did a fantastic job this year, and the competition was stiff,” said Kristin Miller, Education Coordinator at the Southern Allegheny Museum of the Arts and organizer of the event.
McKinney recently performed three more pre-recorded poetry recitations for the state competition. These entries will be scored by a panel of judges from around the commonwealth on physical presence, voice and articulation, dramatic appropriateness, evidence of understanding, overall performance, and accuracy.
The state champion and runner-up will be announced online on March 13. The state champion wins $200 for themselves and $500 for their school as well as a trip to Poetry Out Loud National Finals on May 8-10 in Washington D.C.
In 2022 another Tyrone Area student, Mario Grugan, found success in Poetry Out Loud as the Pennsylvania State Champion and one of the nine National Finalists.
