The Times-Tribune
CORBIN — Special to The Times-Tribune
A Knox Central freshman will be competing at the state finals of the Poetry Out Loud National Recitation Contest today in Frankfort.
Miranda Tucker of Barbourville will represent Knox Central after winning a recent qualifying event at her school. Miranda is the daughter of Jeff and Regina Tucker of Girdler. She has a brother, Daniel Tucker, who is in 8th grade at KCMS.
“Miranda is a freshman, which makes her winning even more special as she beat a host of talented upperclassmen,” said Knox Central drama teacher Cathy Rhoden. “She is quite a young talent.”
When asked about why she entered the school competition, Miranda said, “I enjoy artistic areas and am better at the arts than math and science, and since lately I’ve been going through a lot of changes with moving from Michigan, I thought it would be nice to do something I really enjoy.”
Miranda’s first poem recitation at the state finals will be “Time Does Not Bring Relief: You All Have Lied” by Edna St Vincent Millay, followed by “Invictus” by William Ernest Henley.
The event is sponsored by the Kentucky Arts Council and brings the winners of each of 15 Kentucky high school competitions to vie for the state championship.
The competition, presented in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation, is part of a national program that encourages high school students to learn about great poetry through memorization, performance and competition.
The winner of today’s state finals will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C. and advance to the National Finals, April 26-27, where students will compete for $50,000 in scholarships and school prizes.
Kentucky poets Frederick Smock, Bianca Spriggs and Lisa Williams will serve as judges for the Kentucky state finals, which will be emceed by educator, composer and pianist Harry Pickens.
