SACO — A total of 23 students from southern Maine showcased their talents and explored the power of the spoken word during the Poetry Out Loud Southern Maine Regional Finals held at Thornton Academy’s Garland Auditorium on Tuesday.

The competition each year is organized nationally by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation and administered at the state level by the Maine Arts Commission.

Students in the competition did dramatic readings of three poems chosen from the online anthology of 650 poems on the Poetry Out Loud website, or from the Poetry Out Loud print anthology. 

Students were judged on physical presence, voice and articulation, dramatic appropriateness, evidence of understanding, overall performance and accuracy.

Tamara Ranger, Maine State Teacher of the Year and a reading interventionist at Skowhegan Area Middle School, emceed the event.

Ranger said the students wouldn’t be at the competition without the support of their teachers, and she also acknowledged parents, who had listened to their teens recite poetry while at the dinner table, breakfast table, brushing their teeth and watching television for the past few months.

Yarmouth High School sophomore Tillie Munroe recited “Ecology!” by Jack Collom, “Broken Promises” by David Kirby and “All Kingfishers Catch Fire” by Gerard Manley Hopkins. She wrote in her introduction, which was read by Ranger, that she still gets nervous while on stage, but “I know how to own it while I’m up there.”

Waynflete School freshman Ella Hannaford who recited, among other poems, “Enough,” by Suzanne Buffam, wrote in her introduction that poetry was a powerful way to express emotions.

Kennebunk High School junior Mary Couturier, who chose “to the notebook kid” by Eve L. Ewing as one of her selections, said reading poetry helped boost her confidence.

Five winners were chosen Tuesday — Maine Coast Waldorf School student Sabrina Small, Maine Girls Academy student Skyler Vaughn, Morse High School student Arielle Leeman, Greely High School student Jordan Bryant and Deering High School student Amran Mahamed.

Five winners were also chosen at the northern Maine regionals held at Hampton Academy on Monday. The 10 regional winners will compete in the state finals at Waterville Opera House on March 13, and the state winner will go to the national finals in Washington, D.C., in late April.

— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 325 or [email protected].