Six Northeast Missouri schools participated in the Northeast Missouri Poetry Out Loud Regional Finals held February 12 at the Hannibal Arts Council. 

Students participating were Beth Thordsden (Palmyra), Miranda Oder (Milan), Ashley Bichsel (North Shelby), Maryssa Movarac (Louisiana), Victoria Carothers (South Shelby) and Ali Walker (Troy-Buchanan).  All six participants recited three poems each for the judges.  Judges scored each recitation on physical presence, voice and articulation, appropriateness of dramatization, level of difficulty, evidence of understanding and overall performance.

2013 NEMO POL Participants
Hannibal Arts Council
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The student selected as the Regional Champion was Ali Walker, a junior at Troy-Buchanan High School. Runner-Up was Victoria Carothers, a freshman at South Shelby.  Walker will represent Northeast Missouri at the state finals on March 14 in Jefferson City.  She will compete against the winners of 9 other regional finals held throughout the state.  The state winner will continue on to the national competition held in Washington, D.C. in April.

The Northeast Missouri Poetry Out Loud Regional Recitation Competition is a collaboration of the National Endowment for the Arts, the Poetry Foundation, the Missouri Arts Council, the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Missouri Association of Community Arts Agencies and the Hannibal Arts Council.

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