| | Description: | From a competitive field of nearly 6,000 students from across the state, Rapheal Mathis, a senior from Plainfield East High School in Plainfield, received the title of 2013 Poetry Out Loud Illinois State Champion at the statewide competition hosted by the Springfield Area Arts Council in Springfield, on Friday, March 8, 2013. Mathis recited Silence by Thomas Hood, Buick by Karl Shapiro, and The Gift by Li-Young Lee. Cat Harmon, a senior from Auburn High School, Rockford, won first runner-up with recitations of Ah! Why, Because the Dazzling Sun by Emily Bront, I felt a Funeral in my Brain, (340) by Emily Dickinson, and Rebecca Lindenbergs Carnival. Mr. Mathis will advance to the national competition to be held in Washington, D.C., in mid-April. If Mr. Mathis is unable to attend, Ms. Harmon will represent Illinois at the national contest. | |
