Pioneer Valley High School students took top honors at the Santa Barbara County Arts Commission’s annual “Poetry Out Loud” competition on Feb. 12. Panther Jessica Osborn took first place in the contest, and will move forward to compete in Sacramento for a chance to compete in the national contest in Washington, D.C.
Osborn performed “Queens Cemetery, Setting Sun” by Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and was judged by Santa Barbara poets laureate emeriti Paul J. Willis and Perie Longo, published poet Sojourner Kincaid-Rolle, and accuracy judge Sharon Hosida. The judges chose Osborn as the winner, and fellow PVHS student Naomi Hernandez as the runner-up for her recitation of “The Blues Don’t Change” by Al Youn.
Osborn will be competing at the state finals in Sacramento on March 23 and 24 for the chance to compete in Washington, D.C., on April 29 and 30 in recognition of National Poetry Month.
This article appears in Feb 27 – Mar 6, 2014.
