Lincoln Park student wins 2019 Regional Poetry Out Loud contest

A sophomore from Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School won the 2019 Regional Competition for Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest.

Ceresa Morsaint of Munhall, a writing and publishing major, earned first place representing Lincoln Park during the Feb. 2 competition at the Regent Square Theater in Pittsburgh after winning the top spot in the local contest.

Morsaint recited “The World Is Too Much With Us” by William Wordsworth, “Through a Glass Eye, Lightly” by Carolyn Kizer, and “Winter,” by Marie Ponsot.

“Ceresa did a great job. She really connected with the audience,” said Melissa Potts, Lincoln Park’s Poetry Out Loud advisor, who was in attendance.

Morsaint will now compete with 14 other high school students in Pennsylvania’s state competition slated for 9 a.m. on March 4 at The State Museum of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg. Each champion from the state level will receive $200 and an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C. to compete for the national championship on April 30 – May 1. The school of the PA state champion will receive $500 for the purchase of poetry books.

The Poetry Out Loud competition is part of a national arts education program that encourages high school students to learn about great poetry through memorization, performance and competition. Judges evaluate student performances on criteria including voice and articulation, evidence of understanding, dramatic appropriateness, and accuracy.

More than 6,500 Pennsylvania students and 210 teachers from 111 high schools participated across the commonwealth last year. As a freshman last year, Morsaint won the local Lincoln Park contest, but was unable to attend the regional competition due to illness. She was excited for a second opportunity to compete this year.

Pittsburgh Filmmakers/Pittsburgh Center for the Arts (PF/PCA) presents the regional contest in partnership with the PA Council on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Poetry Foundation.

Other high school students who participated in the regional competition were senior Angela Miller from Baldwin High School, junior Mya Swain from Urban Pathways 6-12 Charter School, senior Genesis Analise Gore from Westinghouse Arts Academy Charter School, sophomore Zoe Koutavas from South Fayette High School, junior Emma Steckline from Pittsburgh CAPA 6-12, junior Zachary Esch from Seton LaSalle Catholic High School, and freshman Sahana Rao from Montour High School.