Samantha Albiani from Elk Grove High School (Elk Grove USD) is the winner of the 2022 Sacramento County Poetry Out Loud competition. She took first place during the Sacramento County finals, which were conducted virtually this year. Mac Stern from Natomas Charter School (Natomas USD) is the Sacramento County runner-up.
Participants in the county competition recorded videos of their presentations, which were scored by a panel of judges. The winners were announced during a celebration held by video conference yesterday.
Albiani will represent Sacramento County in this year’s virtual state finals, which will take place March 11–16.
2022 Poetry Out Loud Participants
- Sandhya Ahuja (John F. Kennedy High School, Sacramento USD)
- Samantha Albiani (Elk Grove High School, Elk Grove USD)
- Arun Dixit (Vista del Lago High School, Folsom Cordova USD)
- Ashley Hurtado Hernandez (Grant Union High School, Twin Rives USD)
- Joy Kaler (Inderkum High School, Natomas USD)
- Hailey Puglia (Rio Americano High School, San Juan USD)
- Mac Stern (Natomas Charter School, Natomas USD)
Awards Celebration to Play on Cable Television
The Sacramento Educational Cable Consortium (SECC) will broadcast the student performances and the awards announcement and celebration event on Comcast Channel 15/Consolidated 21/U-Verse 14:
- February 19 at 4:30 p.m.
- February 20 at 9 a.m.
- February 26 at 4:30 p.m.
- February 27 at 9 a.m.
The Poetry Out Loud awards video is also available to watch online.
About Poetry Out Loud
The Sacramento County Poetry Out Loud competition encourages high school students to learn about great poetry through memorization, performance, and competition. The program provides students with the opportunity to perform poetry in English classes. Modeled after the National Spelling Bee, students start by competing in their local schools. Winners then progress to regional and state competitions, with state winners competing at the national level. Poetry Out Loud was launched nationwide in 2006.
Sacramento County’s Poetry Out Loud program is supported by the Sacramento County Office of Education (SCOE), California Poets in the Schools, and the Poetry Foundation. This activity is funded by the California Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts.